Apparatuses for atomic layer deposition

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention provide apparatuses and methods for depositing materials on substrates during vapor deposition processes, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD). In one embodiment, a chamber contains a substrate support with a receiving surface and a chamber lid containing an expanding channel formed within a thermally insulating material. The chamber further includes at least one conduit coupled to a gas inlet within the expanding channel and positioned to provide a gas flow through the expanding channel in a circular direction, such as a vortex, a helix, a spiral or derivatives thereof. The expanding channel may be formed directly within the chamber lid or formed within a funnel liner attached thereon. The chamber may contain a retaining ring, an upper process liner, a lower process liner or a slip valve liner. Liners usually have a polished surface finish and contain a thermally insulating material such as fused quartz or ceramic. In an alternative embodiment, a deposition system contains a catalytic water vapor generator connected to an ALD chamber.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 60/570,173, entitled, “Atomic Layer Deposition ofHafnium-containing High-k Materials,” filed May 12, 2004, which isherein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Embodiments of the invention generally relate to methods and apparatusesfor depositing materials on a substrate, and more specifically, tomethods and apparatuses for depositing high-k dielectric materials byvapor deposition processes.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the field of semiconductor processing, flat-panel display processingor other electronic device processing, vapor deposition processes haveplayed an important role in depositing materials on substrates. As thegeometries of electronic devices continue to shrink and the density ofdevices continues to increase, the size and aspect ratio of the featuresare becoming more aggressive, e.g., feature sizes of 0.07 μm and aspectratios of 10 or greater are being considered. Accordingly, conformaldeposition of materials to form these devices is becoming increasinglyimportant.

While conventional chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has proved successfulfor device geometries and aspect ratios down to 0.15 μm, the moreaggressive device geometries require an alternative depositiontechnique. One technique that is receiving considerable attention isatomic layer deposition (ALD). During an ALD process, reactant gases aresequentially introduced into a process chamber containing a substrate.Generally, a first reactant is pulsed into the process chamber and isadsorbed onto the substrate surface. A second reactant is pulsed intothe process chamber and reacts with the first reactant to form adeposited material. A purge step is typically carried out between thedelivery of each reactant gas. The purge step may be a continuous purgewith the carrier gas or a pulse purge between the delivery of thereactant gases.

The formation of high-k dielectric materials by oxidizing metal andsilicon precursors during an ALD process is known in the art. Ozone oratomic oxygen is a common oxidant or oxidizing source for ALD processes.A low process temperature may be advantageously maintained during thedeposition process while forming the dielectric material due to theradical state of ozone and atomic oxygen. While the high reactivity atlow temperature is an attribute of the radical oxidizing agents,undesirable side reactions are prevalent throughout the process chamberforming contaminants on the substrate. Alternatively, water or oxygenmay be used as an oxidizing source to form dielectric materials duringan ALD process. However, due to the moderate reactivity of water oroxygen, ALD processes generally require slower flow rates, longerexposure periods and higher temperatures than radical oxygen sources.Also, ALD processes that use water or oxygen require an extended purgeperiod after each oxidizing pulse and therefore increase fabricationthroughput. Furthermore, the slow flow rates and high temperaturesusually increase contaminants on the substrate surface.

Steam oxidation processes have been used to passivate or oxidize metalor silicon materials during conventional CVD processes. In one example,water vapor is plumbed into the process chamber after being generated byboiling water contained within a secondary container. In anotherexample, hydrogen gas and oxygen gas are fed into a process chamberpreheated at a high temperature (e.g., >1,000° C.). In both examples,the generated water vapor reacts with a metal surface or a siliconsurface to form dielectric materials, such as metal oxides or siliconoxides. While the aforementioned steam oxidation processes may producean effective water vapor for use during a CVD process, the generatedwater vapor is not acceptable for use during an ALD process. Water vaporderived from these steam oxidation processes may cause contaminants onthe substrate surface and modest control over process temperature or thecontents of the oxidizing water vapor. Also, ALD processes requireimmediate access to reagents of a consistent composition that may bequantitatively delivered into the process chamber.

Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus and a process for depositinga dielectric material that generates an oxidizing gas at lowtemperatures, controls the composition of the oxidizing gas and thedeposited dielectric materials, shortens process periods and minimizescontaminants.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, an apparatus for processing substrates is providedwhich includes a substrate support having a substrate receiving surfaceand a chamber lid containing an expanding channel formed within athermally insulating material at a central portion of the chamber lid. Atapered bottom surface extends from the expanding channel to aperipheral portion of the chamber lid and is shaped and sized tosubstantially cover the substrate receiving surface. The apparatusfurther includes a first conduit and a second conduit coupled to a firstgas inlet and a second gas inlet within the expanding channel. The firstand second conduits are positioned to provide a gas flow through theexpanding channel in a circular direction, such that the gas flow has aflow pattern of a vortex, a helix, a spiral or derivative thereof. Theexpanding channel may be formed directly within the chamber lid orformed within a funnel liner attached thereon. The chamber may containadditional thermally insulating liners that include an upper processliner, a lower process liner, a retaining ring liner or a slip valveliner. Chamber liners usually contain thermally insulating materialsthat include fused quartz, ceramic, sapphire, derivatives thereof orcombinations thereof and may have a surface finish of at least about0.051 μm.

In another example, an apparatus for processing substrates is providedwhich includes a substrate support having a substrate receiving surfaceand a chamber lid containing an expanding channel formed within athermally insulating material at a central portion of the chamber lid. Atapered bottom surface extends from the expanding channel to aperipheral portion of the chamber lid and is shaped and sized tosubstantially cover the substrate receiving surface. The apparatusfurther contains at least one conduit coupled to at least one gas inletwithin the expanding channel, an ALD valve assembly coupled to theconduit and a water vapor generator coupled to the ALD valve assembly.The water vapor generator contains a catalyst and is in fluidcommunication with the expanding channel through the ALD valve assembly.A hydrogen source and an oxygen source are usually plumbed to the watervapor generator.

In another embodiment, an apparatus for depositing an oxygen containingmaterial by an ALD process is provided which includes an ALD processchamber containing a substrate support exposed to a process region andat least two ALD valve assemblies in fluid communication with theprocess region. The chamber may have a lid assembly containing anexpanding channel at a central portion of the lid assembly furtherdefining the process region. The apparatus further provides a firstprecursor source coupled to one ALD valve assembly and a water vaporgenerator coupled to a second ALD valve assembly. The water vaporgenerator is connected to a hydrogen source and an oxygen source andproduces a water vapor with a flow rate in a range from about 0.1standard cubic centimeters per minute (sccm) to about 100 sccm. In oneexample, the water vapor has a flow rate of about 10 sccm or less,preferably about 1 sccm or less. A hydrogen source gas and an oxygensource gas may be diluted by a carrier gas, such that in one example, ahydrogen source gas contains about 5 vol % of hydrogen within a nitrogencarrier gas. The water vapor generator may have a catalyst that containspalladium, platinum, nickel, iron, chromium, ruthenium, rhodium, alloysthereof or combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, a method for depositing a material on a substrate isprovided which includes positioning the substrate on a substrate supportwithin a process chamber that includes a chamber body and a chamber lid.The chamber lid contains an expanding channel formed from a thermallyinsulating material at a central portion of the chamber lid and atapered bottom surface extending from the expanding channel to aperipheral portion of the chamber lid. The tapered bottom surface isshaped and sized to substantially cover the substrate. The processchamber further contains a first conduit and a second conduit coupled toa first gas inlet and a second gas inlet within the expanding channel.The first and second conduits are positioned to provide a gas with acircular flow. The method further provides flowing at least one carriergas through the first and second conduits to form the circular flow,exposing the substrate to the at least one carrier gas with the circularflow, pulsing at least one precursor into the at least one carrier gasand depositing a material containing at least one element from the atleast one precursor onto the substrate. The carrier gas may have acircular flow with a flow pattern of a vortex, a helix, a spiral orderivative thereof.

In another embodiment, a method for depositing a material on a substrateis provided which includes positioning a substrate on a substratesupport within a process chamber containing a gas delivery systemcapable of forming a gas with a circular flow, flowing at least onecarrier gas into the process chamber to form the circular flow andexposing the substrate to the at least one carrier gas with the circularflow. The method further provides flowing a hydrogen source gas and anoxygen source gas into a water vapor generator to form a water vapor andsequentially pulsing at least one precursor and the water vapor into thecarrier gas to deposit a material containing oxygen and at least oneelement from the precursor onto the substrate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the inventioncan be understood in detail, a more particular description of theinvention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference toembodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Itis to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate onlytypical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to beconsidered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to otherequally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows a process sequence for depositing a hafnium-containingmaterial by an ALD process according to an embodiment described herein;

FIG. 2A depicts a schematic view of a process system configuredaccording to an embodiment described herein;

FIG. 2B depicts a schematic view of a water vapor generator systemaccording to an embodiment described herein;

FIG. 3 shows a process sequence for depositing a hafnium-containingmaterial by an ALD process according to another embodiment describedherein;

FIG. 4 shows a process sequence for depositing a hafnium-containingmaterial by an ALD process according to another embodiment describedherein;

FIGS. 5A-5E show some of the pulsing sequences for the hafnium andsilicon precursors during ALD process according to embodiments describedherein;

FIG. 6 depicts a schematic cross-sectional view of a process chamberthat may be used during a deposition process according to an embodimentdescribed herein;

FIG. 7 depicts a schematic cross-sectional view of another processchamber that may be used during a deposition process according to anembodiment described herein;

FIG. 8 depicts a schematic cross-sectional view of another processchamber that may be used during a deposition process according to anembodiment described herein;

FIGS. 9A-9B depict schematic views of thermally insulating liners thatmay be used with the process chambers according to embodiments describedherein; and

FIG. 10 depicts a schematic view of process chamber lid assembly thatmay be used during a deposition process according to an embodimentdescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention provides methods for depositing hafnium-containingmaterials and other high-k dielectric materials on substrate surfaces byatomic layer deposition (ALD) processes. In one aspect, an ALD processis conducted by sequentially pulsing a hafnium precursor and anoxidizing gas into an ALD process chamber to form a hafnium-containingmaterial. The oxidizing gas contains water vapor derived from a watervapor generator (WVG) system coupled to the ALD process chamber. The WVGsystem generates the oxidizing gas at low temperatures (e.g., <500° C.)by exposing a hydrogen source gas and an oxygen source gas to acatalyst. The composition of the oxidizing gas may be preciselycontrolled to provide water vapor enriched in various ratios of oxygenor hydrogen. The ALD processes utilizing the WVG system to produce watervapor have elemental control of the composition of the depositeddielectric materials, minimized contaminants on the substrate and rapidprocess times that increase fabrication throughput.

Process

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary process sequence 100 for forming ahafnium-containing material, such as hafnium oxide, according to oneembodiment of the invention. A substrate is loaded into a processchamber capable of performing cyclical deposition and the processconditions are adjusted (step 110). Process conditions may includetemperature of the substrate or the process chamber, chamber pressureand gas flow rates. The substrate may be exposed to an optional pre-soakprocess and purge prior to starting an ALD cycle (step 115). Thesubstrate is exposed to a pulse of a hafnium precursor introduced intothe process chamber alone or in combinations with a carrier gas for atime period in a range from about 0.1 seconds to about 5 seconds (step120). A pulse of purge gas is then introduced into the processingchamber (step 130) to purge or otherwise remove any residual hafniumprecursor or by-products. Next, a pulse of oxidizing gas is introducedinto the processing chamber (step 140). The oxidizing gas may include amixture of several oxidizing agents, such as water vapor and oxygen. Apulse of purge gas is again introduced into the process chamber (step150) to purge or otherwise remove any residual oxidizing gas orby-products. Suitable carrier gases or purge gases may include helium,argon, nitrogen, hydrogen, forming gas, oxygen or combinations thereof.

A “pulse” as used herein is intended to refer to a quantity of aparticular compound that is intermittently or non-continuouslyintroduced into a reaction zone of a process chamber. The quantity of aparticular compound within each pulse may vary over time, depending onthe duration of the pulse. The duration of each pulse is variabledepending upon a number of factors such as, for example, the volumecapacity of the process chamber employed, the vacuum system coupledthereto and the volatility/reactivity of the particular compound. A“half-reaction” as used herein refers to an exposing step followed by aremoving step. The exposing step provides introducing a reagent into theprocess chamber and adsorbing or chemically reacting the reagent on asubstrate contained therein, such as a pulse of process gas containingthe reagent. The purge step provides removing excess reagent or reactionby-products from the chamber introducing a gas (e.g., purge gas orcarrier gas), evacuating with a vacuum system or combinations thereof.

Referring to step 160, after each deposition cycle (steps 120 through150), a layer of a hafnium-containing material, such as hafnium oxide,is deposited on the substrate. Usually, each deposition cycle forms alayer with a thickness in the range from about 1 Å to about 10 Å.Depending on specific device requirements, subsequent deposition cyclesmay be needed to deposit hafnium-containing material having a desiredthickness. As such, a deposition cycle (steps 120 through 150) may berepeated to achieve the predetermined thickness of thehafnium-containing material. Thereafter, process sequence 100 may bestopped as indicated at step 170. The hafnium oxide material formed bythe deposition process has the empirical chemical formula HfO_(x).Hafnium oxide may have the molecular chemical formula HfO₂, but byvarying process conditions (e.g., timing, temperature or precursors),hafnium oxides may be less oxidized, such as HfO_(1.8). Preferably,hafnium oxide is deposited by the processes herein with the molecularchemical formula is HfO₂ or the oxygen:hafnium concentration is lessthan 2.

A substrate may be exposed to a pretreatment process or a pre-soakprocess in order to terminate the substrate surface with a variety offunctional groups, as depicted during step 115. Functional groups usefulbefore starting a deposition process as described herein includehydroxyls (OH), alkoxy (OR, where R=Me, Et, Pr or Bu), haloxyls (OX,where X=F, Cl, Br or I), halides (F, Cl, Br or I), oxygen radicals andaminos (NR or NR₂, where R=H, Me, Et, Pr or Bu). The pretreatmentprocess may expose the substrate to a reagent, such as NH₃, B₂H₆, SiH₄,SiH₆, H₂O, HF, HCl, O₂, O₃, H₂O, H₂O₂, H₂, atomic-H, atomic-N, atomic-O,alcohols, amines, derivatives thereof or combination thereof. Thefunctional groups may provide a base for an incoming chemical precursorto attach on the substrate surface. The pretreatment process may exposethe substrate surface to the reagent for a period in a range from about1 second to about 2 minutes, preferably from about 5 seconds to about 60seconds.

In one embodiment, a pre-soak process may include optionally exposingthe substrate to the oxidizing gas containing water vapor generated fromthe WVG system. The pre-soak process provides the substrate surface withhydroxyl terminated functional groups that react with precursorscontaining amino-type ligands (e.g., TDEAH, TDMAH, TDMAS or Tris-DMAS)during a subsequent exposure. During a pre-soak process, the substratesurface may be exposed to the oxidizing gas containing water vapor for atime period in a range from about 3 seconds to about 90 seconds,preferably from about 5 seconds to about 60 seconds, and morepreferably, from about 10 seconds to about 30 seconds. After the soakprocess, the process chamber is usually purged with a carrier gas or apurge gas to remove excess oxidizing gas and any volatile by-productstherein. In an example of forming a hafnium-containing material, thesubstrate surface may be exposed for about 9 seconds to an oxidizing gascontaining water vapor generated from the WVG system. Thereafter, theprocess chamber is purged for about 6 seconds and an ALD process cycleis initiated by providing a pulse of a process gas containing TDEAH orTDMAH. In other examples, such as for forming silicon-containingmaterials, the substrate surface may be exposed for about 15 seconds toan oxidizing gas containing water vapor generated from the WVG system.Thereafter, the process chamber is purged for about 10 seconds and anALD process cycle is initiated by providing a pulse of a process gascontaining TDMAS or Tris-DMAS.

The ALD process is typically conducted in a process chamber at apressure in the range from about 1 Torr to about 100 Torr, preferablyfrom about 1 Torr to about 20 Torr, and more preferably in a range fromabout 1 Torr to about 10 Torr. The temperature of the substrate isusually maintained in the range from about 70° C. to about 1,000° C.,preferably from about 100° C. to about 650° C., and more preferably fromabout 250° C. to about 500° C.

During step 120, the hafnium precursor is introduced into the processchamber at a rate in the range from about 5 standard cubic centimetersper minute (sccm) to about 200 sccm. The hafnium precursor is usuallyintroduced with a carrier gas, such as nitrogen, with a total flow ratein the range from about 50 sccm to about 1,000 sccm. The hafniumprecursor may be pulsed into the process chamber at a rate in a rangefrom about 0.1 seconds to about 10 seconds, depending on the particularprocess conditions, hafnium precursor or desired composition of thedeposited hafnium-containing material. In one embodiment, the hafniumprecursor is pulsed into the process chamber at a rate in a range fromabout 1 second to about 5 seconds, for example, about 3 seconds. Inanother embodiment, the hafnium precursor is pulsed into the processchamber at a rate in a range from about 0.1 seconds to about 1 second,for example, about 0.5 seconds. In one example, the hafnium precursor ispreferably hafnium tetrachloride (HfCl₄). In another example, thehafnium precursor is preferably a tetrakis(dialkylamino)hafniumcompound, such as tetrakis(diethylamino)hafnium ((Et₂N)₄Hf or TDEAH).

The hafnium precursor is generally dispensed into process chamber 280 byintroducing a carrier gas through ampoule 282 containing the hafniumprecursor, as depicted in FIG. 2A. Ampoule 282 may include an ampoule, abubble, a cartridge or other container used for containing or dispersingchemical precursors. A suitable ampoule, such as the PROE-VAP™, isavailable from Advanced Technology Materials, Inc., located in Danbury,Conn. Ampoule 282 is in fluid communication with process chamber 280 byconduit 283. Conduit 283 may be a tube, a pipe, a line, a hose or otherconduits known in the art. Also, ampoule 282 is at distance 284 fromprocess chamber 280. Distance 284 is usually less than about 2 meterspreferably, less than about 1.25 meters, and more preferably about 0.7meters or less. Distance 284 may be minimized in order to maintainconsistent hafnium precursor flow. Also, while conduit 283 may bestraight or have bends, conduit 283 is preferably straight or has as fewbends as possible. Conduit 283 may be wrapped with a heating tape tomaintain a predetermined temperature. The temperature of ampoule 282 ismaintained at a temperature depending on the hafnium precursor within,such as in a range from about 20° C. to about 300° C. In one example,ampoule 282 contains HfCl₄ at a temperature in a range from about 150°C. to about 200° C.

In one embodiment, ampoule 282 may be part of a liquid delivery systemcontaining injector valve system 281. Injector valve system 281 isconnected to ampoule 282 and process chamber 280 by conduit 283. Asource of carrier gas is usually connected to injected valve system 281(not shown). Ampoule 282 containing a liquid precursor (e.g., TDEAH,TDMAH, TDMAS or Tris-DMAS) may be pressurized to transfer the liquidprecursor to injector valve system 281. Generally, ampoule 282containing a liquid precursor may be pressurized at a pressure in arange from about 138 kPa (about 20 psi) to about 414 kPa (about 60 psi)and may be heated to a temperature of about 100° C. or less, preferablyin a range from about 20° C. to about 60° C. Injector valve system 281combines the liquid precursor with a carrier gas to form a precursorvapor that is injected into process chamber 280. A carrier gas mayinclude nitrogen, argon, helium, hydrogen or combinations thereof andthe carrier may be pre-heated to a temperature in a range from about 85°C. to about 150° C. A suitable injector valve is available fromHoriba-Stec, located in Kyoto, Japan.

During step 140, the oxidizing gas is introduced to process chamber 280with a flow a rate in the range from about 0.05 sccm to about 1,000sccm, preferably in the range from about 0.5 sccm to about 100 sccm. Theoxidizing gas is pulsed into process chamber 280 at a rate in a rangefrom about 0.05 seconds to about 10 seconds, preferably, from about 0.08seconds to about 3 seconds, and more preferably, from about 0.1 secondsto about 2 seconds. In one embodiment, the oxidizing gas is pulsed at arate in a range from about 1 second to about 5 seconds, for example,about 1.7 seconds. In another embodiment, the oxidizing gas is pulsed ata rate in a range from about 0.1 seconds to about 3 seconds, forexample, about 0.5 seconds.

The oxidizing gas may be produced from water vapor generator (WVG)system 286 in fluid communication with process chamber 280 by conduit287. Fittings 212 and 214 may be used to link conduit 287 to WVG system286 or to process chamber 280. Suitable fittings include UPG fittingsavailable from Fujikin of America, Inc. Generally, conduit 287 is influid communication with process chamber 280 through an ALD valveassembly. Conduit 287 may be a tube, a pipe. a line or a hose composedof a metal (e.g., stainless steel or aluminum), rubber or plastic (e.g.,PTFE). In one example, a pipe formed from stainless steel 316L is usedas conduit 287. The WVG system 286 generates ultra-high purity watervapor by means of a catalytic reaction of an oxygen source gas (e.g.,O₂) and a hydrogen source gas (e.g., H₂) at a low temperature (e.g.,<500° C.). The hydrogen and oxygen source gases each flow into WVGsystem 286 at a flow rate in the range from about 5 sccm to about 200sccm, preferably, from about 10 sccm to about 100 sccm. Generally, theflow rates of the oxygen and hydrogen source gases are independentlyadjusted to have a presence of oxygen or an oxygen source gas and anabsence of the hydrogen or hydrogen source gas within the outflow of theoxidizing gas.

An oxygen source gas useful to generate an oxidizing gas containingwater vapor may include oxygen (O₂), atomic oxygen (O), ozone (O₃),nitrous oxide (N₂O), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂),dinitrogen pentoxide (N₂O₅), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), derivativesthereof or combinations thereof. A hydrogen source gas useful togenerate an oxidizing gas containing water vapor may include hydrogen(H₂), atomic hydrogen (H), forming gas (N₂/H₂), ammonia (NH₃),hydrocarbons (e.g., CH₄), alcohols (e.g., CH₃OH), derivatives thereof orcombinations thereof. A carrier gas may be co-flowed with either theoxygen source gas or the hydrogen source gas and may include N₂, He, Aror combinations thereof. Preferably, the oxygen source gas is oxygen ornitrous oxide and the hydrogen source gas is hydrogen or a forming gas,such as 5 vol % of hydrogen in nitrogen.

A hydrogen source gas and an oxygen source gas may be diluted with acarrier gas to provide sensitive control of the water vapor within theoxidizing gas during deposition processes. In one embodiment, a slowerwater vapor flow rate (about <10 sccm water vapor) may be desirable tocomplete the chemical reaction during an ALD process to form ahafnium-containing material or other dielectric materials. A slowerwater vapor flow rate dilutes the water vapor concentration within theoxidizing gas. The diluted water vapor is at a concentration to oxidizeadsorbed precursors on the substrate surface. Therefore, a slower watervapor flow rate minimizes the purge time after the water vapor exposureto increase the fabrication throughput. Also, the slower water vaporflow rate reduces formation of particulate contaminants by avoidingundesired co-reactions. A mass flow controller (MFC) may be used tocontrol a hydrogen source gas with a flow rate of about 0.5 sccm whileproducing a stream of water vapor with a flow rate of about 0.5 sccm.However, most MFC systems are unable to provide a consistent flow rateat such a slow rate. Therefore, a diluted hydrogen source gas (e.g.,forming gas) may be used in a WVG system to achieve a slower water vaporflow rate. In one example, a hydrogen source gas with a flow rate ofabout 10 sccm and containing 5% hydrogen forming gas deliveries watervapor from a WVG system with a flow rate of about 0.5 sccm. In analternative embodiment, a faster water vapor flow rate (about >10 sccmwater vapor) may be desirable to complete the chemical reaction duringan ALD process while forming a hafnium-containing material or otherdielectric materials. For example, about 100 sccm of hydrogen gasdeliveries about 100 sccm of water vapor.

The forming gas may be selected with a hydrogen concentration in a rangefrom about 1% to about 95% by volume in a carrier gas, such as argon ornitrogen. In one aspect, a hydrogen concentration of a forming gas is ina range from about 1% to about 30% by volume in a carrier gas,preferably from about 2% to about 20%, and more preferably, from about3% to about 10%, for example, a forming gas may contain about 5%hydrogen and about 95% nitrogen. In another aspect, a hydrogenconcentration of a forming gas is in a range from about 30% to about 95%by volume in a carrier gas, preferably from about 40% to about 90%, andmore preferably from about 50% to about 85%, for example, a forming gasmay contain about 80% hydrogen and about 20% nitrogen.

In one example, a WVG system receives a hydrogen source gas containing5% hydrogen (95% nitrogen) with a flow rate of about 10 sccm and anoxygen source gas (e.g., O₂) with a flow rate of about 10 sccm to forman oxidizing gas containing water vapor with a flow rate of about 0.5sccm and oxygen with a flow rate of about 9.8 sccm. In another example,a WVG system receives a hydrogen source gas containing 5% hydrogenforming gas with a flow rate of about 20 sccm and an oxygen source gaswith a flow rate of about 10 sccm to form an oxidizing gas containingwater vapor with a flow rate of about 1 sccm and oxygen with a flow rateof about 9 sccm. In another example, a WVG system receives a hydrogensource gas containing hydrogen gas with a flow rate of about 20 sccm andan oxygen source gas with a flow rate of about 10 sccm to form anoxidizing gas containing water vapor at a rate of about 10 sccm andoxygen at a rate of about 9.8 sccm. In other examples, nitrous oxide, asan oxygen source gas, is used with a hydrogen source gas to form a watervapor during ALD processes. Generally, 2 molar equivalents of nitrousoxide are substituted for each molar equivalent of oxygen gas.

A WVG system contains a catalyst, such as catalyst-lined reactor or acatalyst cartridge, in which the oxidizing gas containing water vapor isgenerated by a catalytic chemical reaction between a source of hydrogenand a source of oxygen. A WVG system is unlike pyrogenic generators thatproduce water vapor as a result of an ignition reaction, usually attemperatures over 1,000° C. A WVG system containing a catalyst usuallyproduces water vapor at a low temperature in the range from about 100°C. to about 500° C., preferably at about 350° C. or less. The catalystcontained within a catalyst reactor may include a metal or alloy, suchas palladium, platinum, nickel, iron, chromium, ruthenium, rhodium,alloys thereof or combinations thereof. The ultra-high purity water isideal for the ALD processes in the present invention. In one embodiment,to prevent unreacted hydrogen from flowing downstream, an oxygen sourcegas is allowed to flow through the WVG system for about 5 seconds. Next,the hydrogen source gas is allowed to enter the reactor for about 5seconds. The catalytic reaction between the oxygen and hydrogen sourcegases (e.g., H₂ and O₂) generates a water vapor. Regulating the flow ofthe oxygen and hydrogen source gases allows precise control of oxygenand hydrogen concentrations within the formed oxidizing gas containingwater vapor. The water vapor may contain remnants of the hydrogen sourcegas, the oxygen source gas or combinations thereof. Suitable WVG systemsare commercially available, such as the Water Vapor Generator (WVG)system by Fujikin of America, Inc., located in Santa Clara, Calif. andor the Catalyst Steam Generator System (CSGS) by Ultra Clean Technology,located in Menlo Park, Calif.

FIG. 2B illustrates one configuration of WVG system 286. Hydrogen source262, oxygen source 264 and carrier gas source 266 are connected to WVGsystem 286 by conduit system 261. Conduit system 261 contains conduitsand valves that allow gases from hydrogen source 262, oxygen source 264and/or carrier gas source 266 to be independently in fluid communicationwith catalyst reactor 270 through gas inputs 267 and gas filter 268.Water vapor is formed within and emitted from catalyst reactor 270.Also, conduit system 261 contains conduits and valves that allow gasesfrom hydrogen source 262 and oxygen source 264 to independently bypasscatalyst reactor 270 at junction 271. Therefore, additional hydrogensource gas and/or oxygen source gas may bypass catalyst reactor 270 andcombine with water vapor to form an oxidizing gas enriched with oxygenor hydrogen. Gas sensor 272 and gas filter 274 are connected to conduitsystem 261 downstream from catalyst reactor 270. Gas sensor 272 may beused to determine the composition of the oxidizing gas including oxygen,hydrogen and water concentrations. The oxidizing gas may pass throughgas filter 274 prior to exiting WVG system 286.

The pulses of a purge gas, preferably argon or nitrogen, at steps 130and 150, are typically introduced at a flow rate in a range from about 2standard liters per minute (slm) to about 22 slm, preferably about 10slm. Each processing cycle (steps 120 through 150) occurs for a timeperiod in a range from about 0.01 seconds to about 20 seconds. In oneexample, the process cycle lasts about 10 seconds. In another example,the process cycle lasts about 2 seconds. Longer processing steps lastingabout 10 seconds deposit excellent hafnium-containing films, but reducethe throughput. The specific purge gas flow rates and duration ofprocess cycles are obtained through experimentation. In one example, a300 mm diameter wafer requires about twice the flow rate for the sameduration as a 200 mm diameter wafer in order to maintain similarthroughput.

In one embodiment, hydrogen gas is applied as a carrier gas, purgeand/or a reactant gas to reduce halogen contamination from the depositedmaterials. Precursors that contain halogen atoms (e.g., HfCl₄, SiCl₄ andSi₂Cl₆) readily contaminate the deposited dielectric materials. Hydrogenis a reductant and will produce hydrogen halides (e.g., HCl) as avolatile and removable by-product. Therefore, hydrogen may be used as acarrier gas or reactant gas when combined with a precursor compound(e.g., hafnium, silicon, oxygen precursors) and may include anothercarrier gas (e.g., Ar or N₂). In one example, a water/hydrogen mixture,at a temperature in the range from about 100° C. to about 500° C., isused to reduce the halogen concentration and increase the oxygenconcentration of the deposited material. In one example, awater/hydrogen mixture may be derived by feeding an excess of hydrogensource gas into a WVG system to form a hydrogen enriched water vapor.

In another embodiment, FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary process sequence200 for forming a hafnium-containing material, such as hafnium silicate.A substrate is loaded into a process chamber capable of performingcyclical deposition and the process conditions are adjusted (step 205).The substrate may be exposed to an optional pre-soak process and purgeprior to starting an ALD cycle (step 207). The substrate is exposed topulse of a hafnium precursor that is introduced into the process chamberfor a time period in a range from about 0.1 seconds to about 5 seconds(step 210). A pulse of purge gas is introduced into the process chamber(step 215) to purge or otherwise remove any residual hafnium precursoror by-products. Next, a pulse of oxidizing gas is introduced into theprocess chamber for a time period in a range from about 0.1 seconds toabout 10 seconds (step 220). The oxidizing gas may include severaloxidizing agents, such as water vapor and oxygen derived from a WVGsystem. A pulse of purge gas is again introduced into the processchamber (step 225) to purge or otherwise remove any residual oxidizingcompound or by-products. The substrate is then exposed to pulse of asilicon precursor that is introduced into the process chamber for a timeperiod in a range from about 0.1 seconds to about 10 seconds (step 230).A pulse of purge gas is again pulsed into the process chamber (step 235)to purge or otherwise remove any residual silicon precursor orby-products. Next, another pulse of oxidizing gas is introduced into theprocess chamber for a time period in a range from about 0.1 seconds to10 seconds (step 240). A pulse of purge gas is again introduced into theprocessing chamber (step 245) to purge or otherwise remove any residualoxidizing compound or by-products. Suitable carrier gases or purge gasesmay include helium, argon, nitrogen, hydrogen, forming gas, oxygen orcombinations thereof.

Referring to step 250, after each deposition cycle (steps 210 through245), a hafnium-containing material, such as hafnium silicate, having afirst thickness is deposited on the substrate surface. Usually, eachdeposition cycle forms a layer with a thickness in the range from about0.5 Å to about 10 Å. Depending on specific device requirements,subsequent deposition cycles may be needed to deposit ahafnium-containing material with a predetermined thickness. A depositioncycle (steps 210 through 245) may be repeated until the desired orpredetermined thickness for the hafnium-containing material is achievedat step 250 and process sequence 200 is stopped at step 260.

The hafnium silicate material formed by the deposition processesdescribed herein has the empirical chemical formula HfSi_(y)O_(x).Hafnium silicate may be a homogenous mixture of hafnium oxide (HfO_(x)or HfO₂) and silicon oxide (SiO_(x) or SiO₂) or a single phase HfSiO₄material. Hafnium silicate may have the molecular chemical formulaHfSiO₄, but by varying process conditions (e.g., timing, temperature,precursors), hafnium silicates may vary by elemental concentration, forexample, HfSiO_(3.8) or HfSi_(0.8)O_(3.8.)

The ALD process depicted in FIG. 3 typically occurs within a processchamber at a pressure in a range from about 1 Torr to about 100 Torr,preferably from about 1 Torr to about 20 Torr, and more preferably, fromabout 1 Torr to about 10 Torr. The temperature of the substrate isusually in a range from about 70° C. to about 1,000° C., preferably fromabout 100° C. to about 650° C., and more preferably from about 250° C.to about 500° C. The optional pre-soak process in step 207 is subsequentto starting an ALD cycle and may include exposing the substrate to theoxidizing gas containing water vapor generated from a WVG system, asdescribed in step 115.

During step 210, the hafnium precursor is introduced into the processchamber with a flow rate in the range from about 5 sccm to about 200sccm. The hafnium precursor is usually introduced with a carrier gas,such as nitrogen, with a total flow rate in the range from about 50 sccmto about 1,000 sccm. The hafnium precursor is pulsed into the processchamber at a rate in a range from about 0.1 seconds to about 10 seconds.In one embodiment, the hafnium precursor is pulsed at a rate in a rangefrom about 1 second to about 5 seconds, for example, about 3 seconds. Inanother embodiment, the hafnium precursor is pulsed at a rate in a rangefrom about 0.1 seconds to about 1 second, for example, about 0.5seconds. In some examples, the hafnium precursor is preferably hafniumtetrachloride, while in other examples, the hafnium precursor ispreferably TDEAH or other tetrakis(dialkylamino)hafnium compounds.

In one embodiment, the hafnium precursor is generally dispensed intoprocess chamber 280 by introducing a carrier gas through ampoule 282containing the hafnium precursor, as depicted in FIG. 2A. Thetemperature of ampoule 282 is maintained at a temperature depending onthe hafnium precursor within, such as in a range from about 20° C. toabout 300° C. In one example, ampoule 282 contains HfCl₄ at atemperature in a range from about 150° C. to about 200° C. In anotherexample, ampoule 282 containing a liquid precursor (e.g., TDEAH, TDMAH,TDMAS or Tris-DMAS) may be pressurized to transfer the liquid precursorto injector valve system 281. Generally, ampoule 282 containing a liquidprecursor may be pressurized at a pressure in a range from about 138 kPa(about 20 psi) to about 414 kPa (about 60 psi) and may be heated to atemperature of about 100° C. or less, preferably in a range from about20° C. to about 60° C. Injector valve system 281 combines the liquidprecursor with a carrier gas to form a precursor vapor that is injectedinto process chamber 280. A carrier gas may include nitrogen, argon,helium, hydrogen or combinations thereof and the carrier may bepre-heated to a temperature in a range from about 85° C. to about 150°C.

In steps 220 and 240, oxidizing gas containing water vapor is introducedinto process chamber 280 at a rate in the range from about 20 sccm toabout 1,000 sccm, preferably from about 50 sccm to about 200 sccm. Theoxidizing gas is pulsed into process chamber 280 a rate in a range fromabout 0.1 seconds to about 10 seconds, depending on the particularprocess conditions and desired composition of the depositedhafnium-containing material. In one embodiment, the oxidizing gas ispulsed at a rate from about 1 second to about 3 seconds, for example,about 1.7 seconds. In another embodiment, the oxidizing gas is pulsed ata rate from about 0.1 seconds to about 1 second, for example, about 0.5seconds.

The oxidizing gas may be produced from WVG system 286 that is in fluidcommunication with process chamber 280 by conduit 287. A hydrogen sourcegas (H₂) and an oxygen source gas (O₂) each flow independently into WVGsystem 286 with a flow rate in a range from about 20 sccm to about 300sccm. Generally, the oxygen source gas is at a higher flow rate than thehydrogen source gas. In one example, the hydrogen source gas has a flowrate of about 100 sccm and oxygen source gas has a flow rate of about120 sccm to enrich the water vapor with oxygen.

In another embodiment of the WVG system, the flow of hydrogen is higherthan the flow of oxygen, for example, the hydrogen source gas has a flowrate of about 250 sccm and oxygen source gas has a flow rate of about100 sccm. Therefore, the water vapor flowing from the WVG system isenriched with hydrogen. For example, when the hydrogen source gas has aflow rate of about 250 sccm and the oxygen source gas has a flow rate ofabout 100 sccm, the outflow of oxidizing gas contains partial flow ratesof water vapor of about 100 sccm and hydrogen of about 50 sccm. A watervapor enriched with hydrogen has several important functions. First, anexcess of hydrogen in the water vapor increases the removal rate ofcertain contaminants, such as halogens. During deposition processescontaining HfCl₄ or other halogenated precursors, an excess of hydrogengas reacts with chlorine to form hydrogen chloride as a volatile producteasily removed by the purge steps. Secondarily, an excess of hydrogenwithin a water vapor prevents oxidation of some metal gate layers. In aMIM capacitor or device, a stack may contain a dielectric layersandwiched between two metal layers, such as aluminum or tungsten. Whileforming the dielectric layer, such as a silicate compound, the excesshydrogen reduces the metal layer while the water vapor oxidizes thedielectric layer.

During step 230, the silicon precursor is introduced to the processchamber with a flow rate in a range from about 5 sccm to about 200 sccmor with a flow rate in the range from about 1 mg/min to about 50 mg/min,preferably about 5 mg/min to about 25 mg/min. The silicon precursor isusually introduced with a carrier gas, such as nitrogen, with a totalflow rate in the range from about 50 sccm to about 1,000 sccm. Thesilicon precursor is pulsed into the process chamber at a rate in arange from about 0.1 seconds to about 10 seconds, depending on theparticular process and desired silicon concentration. In one embodiment,the silicon precursor is pulsed at a rate in a range from about 1 secondto about 5 seconds, for example, about 3 seconds. In another embodiment,the silicon precursor is pulsed at a rate in a range from about 0.1seconds to about 1 second, for example, about 0.5 seconds. In someexamples, the silicon precursor is preferably tris(dimethylamino)silane((Me₂N)₃SiH or Tris-DMAS), tetrakis(dimethylamino)silane ((Me₂N)₄Si orTDMAS) or other dialkylaminosilanes, while in other examples the siliconprecursor is preferably silane (SiH₄).

The pulses of a purge gas, such as argon or nitrogen, during steps 215,225, 235 and 245 are typically introduced with a flow rate in a rangefrom about 2 slm to about 22 slm, preferably about 10 slm. Each processcycle (steps 210 through 245) may occur for a time period in a rangefrom about 2 seconds to about 40 seconds. In one example, the timeperiod of the process cycle lasts about 20 seconds, while in anotherexample, the time period of the process cycle lasts about 4 seconds.Longer process steps lasting about 20 seconds deposit excellenthafnium-containing films, but with reduced throughput.

In another embodiment, hafnium-containing materials, such as hafniumsilicate, may be formed by omitting either of the steps that introducethe oxidizing gas and the subsequent purge step. In one example, steps220 and 225 are omitted, therefore a hafnium silicate material may beformed by sequentially pulsing the hafnium precursor, purge gas, siliconprecursor, purge gas, oxidizing gas and purge gas. In another example,steps 240 and 245 are omitted, therefore a hafnium silicate material maybe formed by sequentially pulsing the hafnium precursor, purge gas,oxidizing gas, purge gas, silicon precursor and purge gas.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary process sequence 300 for forming ahafnium-containing material, such as a hafnium silicate, according toanother embodiment of the invention. A substrate is loaded into aprocess chamber capable of performing cyclical deposition and theprocess conditions are adjusted (step 310). The substrate may be exposedto an optional pre-soak process and purge prior to starting an ALD cycle(step 315). The substrate is exposed to a pulse of a hafnium precursorand a pulse of a silicon precursor that completely or at least partiallyoverlap in time and are introduced into the process chamber for a timeperiod in a range from about 0.1 seconds to about 5 seconds (step 320).A pulse of purge gas is pulsed into the processing chamber (step 330) topurge or otherwise remove any residual hafnium precursor, siliconprecursor or by-products. Next, a pulse of oxidizing gas is introducedinto the processing chamber (step 340). The oxidizing gas may includeseveral oxidizing agents, such as water vapor and oxygen derived from aWVG system. A pulse of purge gas is again introduced into the processingchamber (step 350) to purge or otherwise remove any residual reducingcompound. Suitable carrier gases or purge gases may include helium,argon, nitrogen, hydrogen, forming gas, oxygen or combinations thereof.

Referring to step 360, after each deposition cycle (steps 320 through350), a hafnium-containing material, such as a hafnium silicate, havinga first thickness will be deposited on the substrate surface. During theALD process, each deposition cycle forms a layer with a thickness in therange from about 0.5 Å to about 10 Å. Depending on specific devicerequirements, subsequent deposition cycles may be needed to deposit ahafnium-containing material with a predetermined thickness. A depositioncycle (steps 320 through 350) may be repeated until the desired orpredetermined thickness for the hafnium-containing material is achievedat step 360 and process sequence 300 is stopped at step 370.

The ALD process depicted in FIG. 4 typically occurs within a processchamber at a pressure in a range from about 1 Torr to about 100 Torr,preferably from about 1 Torr to about 20 Torr, and more preferably fromabout 1 Torr to about 10 Torr. The temperature of the substrate isusually in a range from about 70° C. to about 1,000° C., preferably fromabout 100° C. to about 650° C., and more preferably from about 250° C.to about 500° C. The optional pre-soak process in step 315 is subsequentto starting an ALD cycle and may include exposing the substrate to theoxidizing gas containing water vapor generated from a WVG system, asdescribed in step 115.

During step 320, the hafnium precursor and the silicon precursor areeach introduced by flowing into the process chamber as a pulse ofprecursor, i.e., a pulsed precursor is the introduction of thatprecursor into the process chamber. In FIGS. 5A-5E, t₁ corresponds tothe time period that a hafnium precursor and a silicon precursor arepulsed during step 320, while t₂ corresponds to the time period duringsteps 330, 340 and 350. The time periods t₁ and t₂ are not graphed toscale relative to each other. In one embodiment depicted in FIG. 5A, thehafnium precursor and silicon precursor are independently pulsed duringthe same time period, such that both precursors flow during all of t₁.For example, a hafnium precursor and a silicon precursor aresimultaneously pulsed for about 2 seconds.

In another embodiment depicted by FIGS. 5B-5C, the hafnium precursor andsilicon precursor are independently pulsed, so that a first precursorflows during all of t₁ and the second precursor flows during theintermediate of t₁. For example, in FIG. 5B when t₁ lasts about 2seconds, a hafnium precursor is pulsed for about 2 seconds and a siliconprecursor is pulsed for about 1.5 seconds during the intermediate of thepulsed hafnium precursor. Alternatively, in FIG. 5C when t₁ lasts about2 seconds, a silicon precursor is pulsed for about 2 seconds and ahafnium precursor is pulsed for about 1.5 seconds during theintermediate of the pulsed silicon precursor.

In another embodiment depicted by FIGS. 5D-5E, the hafnium precursor andsilicon precursor are independently pulsed with a partially overlap,such that a first precursor flows at the beginning of t₁ but does notflow to the end of t₁ and the second precursor does not flow at thebeginning of t₁, but does flow to the end of t₁. For example, in FIG. 5Dwhen t₁ lasts about 2 seconds, a hafnium precursor is pulsed for about1.5 seconds at the beginning of t₁ and a silicon precursor is pulsed forabout 1.5 seconds at the end of t₁. In another example, in FIG. 5E whent₁ lasts about 2 seconds, a silicon precursor is pulsed for about 1.75seconds at the beginning of t₁ and a hafnium precursor is pulsed forabout 1.5 seconds at the end of t₁.

Alternatively, a first precursor (e.g., hafnium precursor) may be pulsedduring any portion of time period t₁ while overlapping or notoverlapping a second precursor (e.g., silicon precursor) may also bepulsed during any portion of time period t₁. Therefore, a hafniumprecursor, a silicon precursor or other precursor may be independentlypulsed into the process chamber with any partial overlap of time or withno overlap of time. In one example when t₁ lasts about 2 seconds, ahafnium precursor is pulsed for about 2 seconds and a silicon precursoris pulsed for 0.5 seconds during the pulse of hafnium precursor. Inanother example when t₁ lasts about 2 seconds, a hafnium precursor ispulsed for about 0.5 seconds and a silicon precursor is pulsed for 0.5seconds with no overlap of or not during the pulse of hafnium precursor.In another example when t₁ lasts about 2 seconds, a hafnium precursor ispulsed for about 0.5 seconds and a silicon precursor is pulsed for 0.5seconds with an overlap of or during the pulse of hafnium precursor.Also, multiple pulses a first precursor and a second precursor may bepulsed during time period t₁.

During step 320, the hafnium precursor is introduced into the processchamber with a flow rate in a range from about 5 sccm to about 200 sccm.The hafnium precursor is usually introduced with a carrier gas, such asnitrogen, with a total flow rate in a range from about 50 sccm to about1,000 sccm. The hafnium precursor may be pulsed into the process chamberat a rate in a range from about 0.1 seconds to about 10 seconds. In oneembodiment, the hafnium precursor is pulsed at a rate in a range fromabout 1 second to about 5 seconds, for example, about 3 seconds. Inanother embodiment, the hafnium precursor is pulsed at a rate in a rangefrom about 0.1 seconds to about 1 second, for example, about 0.5seconds. In some example, the hafnium precursor is preferably hafniumtetrachloride, while in other examples, the hafnium precursor ispreferably TDEAH.

The hafnium precursor is generally dispensed into process chamber 280 byintroducing a carrier gas through ampoule 282 containing the hafniumprecursor, as depicted in FIG. 2A. The carrier gas and the hafniumprecursor form a precursor vapor that flows through conduit 283 intoprocess chamber 280. The temperature of ampoule 282 is maintained at atemperature depending on the hafnium precursor within, such as in arange from about 20° C. to about 300° C. In one example, ampoule 282contains HfCl₄ at a temperature in a range from about 150° C. to about200° C. In another example, ampoule 282 containing a liquid precursor(e.g., TDEAH, TDMAH, TDMAS or Tris-DMAS) may be pressurized to transferthe liquid precursor to injector valve system 281. Generally, ampoule282 containing a liquid precursor may be pressurized at a pressure in arange from about 138 kPa (about 20 psi) to about 414 kPa (about 60 psi)and may be heated to a temperature of about 100° C. or less, preferablyin a range from about 20° C. to about 60° C. Injector valve system 281combines the liquid precursor with a carrier gas to form a precursorvapor that is injected into process chamber 280. A carrier gas mayinclude nitrogen, argon, helium, hydrogen or combinations thereof andthe carrier may be pre-heated to a temperature in a range from about 85°C. to about 150° C.

During step 320, the silicon precursor is introduced into the processchamber with a flow rate in a range from about 5 sccm to about 200 sccmor with a flow rate in a range from about 1 mg/min to about 50 mg/min,preferably from about 5 mg/min to about 25 mg/min. The silicon precursoris usually introduced with a carrier gas, such as nitrogen, with a totalflow rate in a range from about 50 sccm to about 1,000 sccm. The siliconprecursor is pulsed into the process chamber at a rate in a range fromabout 0.1 seconds to about 10 seconds. In one embodiment, the siliconprecursor is pulsed at a rate in a range from about 1 second to about 5seconds, for example, about 3 seconds. In another embodiment, thesilicon precursor is pulsed at a rate in a range from about 0.1 secondsto about 1 second, for example, about 0.5 seconds. In some examples, thesilicon precursor is preferably Tris-DMAS or TDMAS, while in otherexamples, the silicon precursor is preferably silane.

In an alternative embodiment during step 320, the hafnium precursor andthe silicon precursor may be combined prior to pulsing into the processchamber. The hafnium/silicon precursor mixture is formed by combining aproportional amount of a hafnium precursor and a silicon precursor inorder to achieve a desired Hf:Si ratio within the depositedhafnium-containing material. A process gas containing thehafnium/silicon precursor mixture may be formed by flowing a carrier gasthrough the precursor mixture within an ampoule. The hafnium/siliconprecursor mixture is sequentially pulsed with the oxidizing gas by anALD process to form a hafnium-containing material, such as a hafniumsilicate material. Hafnium silicates deposited by the processesdescribed herein have the empirical chemical formula HfSi_(y)O_(x),wherein y may be adjusted by varying the molar ratio of the hafniumprecursor and the silicon precursor within the hafnium/silicon precursormixture. For example, if the ratio of hafnium precursor to siliconprecursor is greater than 1, than y is probably less than 1. However, ifthe ratio of hafnium precursor to silicon precursor is less than 1, thany is probably greater than 1.

During step 340, the oxidizing gas is introduced into process chamber280 with a flow rate in a range from about 20 sccm to about 1,000 sccm,preferably in a range from about 50 sccm to about 200 sccm. Theoxidizing gas is pulsed into process chamber 280 at a rate in a rangefrom about 0.1 seconds to about 10 seconds. In one embodiment, theoxidizing gas is pulsed at a rate in a range from about 1 second toabout 3 seconds, for example, about 1.7 seconds. In another embodiment,the oxidizing gas is pulsed at a rate in a range from about 0.1 secondsto about 1 second, for example, about 0.5 seconds.

In one embodiment of process sequence 300, the oxidizing gas is producedfrom WVG system 286 that is in fluid communication to process chamber280 by conduit 287. The hydrogen source gas and the oxygen source gaseach flow into WVG system 286 with a flow rate in a range from about 20sccm to about 200 sccm. Generally, the flow rate of the oxygen sourcegas is higher than the flow rate of the hydrogen source gas, forexample, the hydrogen source gas has a flow rate of about 100 sccm andthe oxygen source gas has a flow rate of about 120 sccm. Therefore, thewater vapor flowing from WVG system 286 is enriched with oxygen. Forexample, when the hydrogen source gas has a flow rate of about 100 sccmand the oxygen source gas has a flow rate of about 120 sccm, the outflowof oxidizing gas includes partial flow rates of water vapor of about 100sccm and oxygen of about 70 sccm. In another example, the hydrogensource gas has a flow rate of about 250 sccm and the oxygen source gashas a flow rate of about 100 sccm. Therefore, the water vapor flowingfrom the WVG system is enriched with hydrogen.

The pulses of a purge gas, such as argon or nitrogen, during steps 330and 350, are typically introduced with a flow rate in a range from about2 slm to about 22 slm, preferably about 10 slm. Each process cycle(steps 320 through 350) may occur for a time period in a range fromabout 0.5 seconds to about 20 seconds. In one example, the process cyclelasts about 10 seconds. In another example, the process cycle lastsabout 2 seconds.

In some of the embodiments containing process sequences 100, 200 and300, an alternative oxidizing gas, such as a traditional oxidant, may beused instead of the oxidizing gas containing water vapor formed from aWVG system. The alternative oxidizing gas is introduced into the processchamber from an oxygen source containing water not derived from a WVGsystem, oxygen (O₂), ozone (O₃), atomic-oxygen (O), hydrogen peroxide(H₂O₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O), nitric oxide (NO), dinitrogen pentoxide(N₂O₅), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), derivatives thereof or combinationsthereof. While embodiments of the invention provide processes thatbenefit from oxidizing gas containing water vapor formed from a WVGsystem, other embodiments provide processes that utilize the alternativeoxidizing gas or traditional oxidants while forming hafnium-containingmaterials and other dielectric materials during deposition processesdescribed herein.

Many precursors are within the scope of embodiments of the invention fordepositing the dielectric materials described herein. One importantprecursor characteristic is to have a favorable vapor pressure.Precursors at ambient temperature and pressure may be gas, liquid orsolid. However, volatilized precursors are used within the ALD chamber.Organometallic compounds contain at least one metal atom and at leastone organic-containing functional group, such as amides, alkyls,alkoxyls, alkylaminos or anilides. Precursors may includeorganometallic, inorganic or halide compounds.

Exemplary hafnium precursors include hafnium compounds containingligands such as halides, alkylaminos, cyclopentadienyls, alkyls,alkoxides, derivatives thereof or combinations thereof. Hafnium halidecompounds useful as hafnium precursors may include HfCl₄, Hfl₄, andHfBr₄. Hafnium alkylamino compounds useful as hafnium precursors include(RR′N)₄Hf, where R or R′ are independently hydrogen, methyl, ethyl,propyl or butyl. Hafnium precursors useful for depositinghafnium-containing materials include (Et₂N)₄Hf, (Me₂N)₄Hf, (MeEtN)₄Hf,(^(t)BuC₅H₄)₂HfCl₂, (C₅H₅)₂HfCl₂, (EtC₅H₄)₂HfCl₂, (Me₅C₅)₂HfCl₂,(Me₅C₅)HfCl₃, (^(i)PrC₅H₄)₂HfCl₂, (^(i)PrC₅H₄)HfCl₃, (^(t)BuC₅H₄)₂HfMe₂,(acac)₄Hf, (hfac)₄Hf, (tfac)₄Hf, (thd)₄Hf, (NO₃)₄Hf, (^(t)BuO)₄Hf,(^(i)PrO)₄Hf, (EtO)₄Hf, (MeO)₄Hf or derivatives thereof. Preferably,hafnium precursors used during the deposition process herein includeHfCl₄, (Et₂N)₄Hf or (Me₂N)₄Hf.

Exemplary silicon precursors useful for depositing silicon-containingmaterials include silanes, alkylaminosilanes, silanols or alkoxysilanes, for example, silicon precursors may include (Me₂N)₄Si,(Me₂N)₃SiH, (Me₂N)₂SiH₂, (Me₂N)SiH₃, (Et₂N)₄Si, (Et₂N)₃SiH, (MeEtN)₄Si,(MeEtN)₃SiH, Si(NCO)₄, MeSi(NCO)₃, SiH₄, Si₂H₆, SiCl₄, Si₂Cl₆, MeSiCl₃,HSiCl₃, Me₂SiCl₂, H₂SiCl₂, MeSi(OH)₃, Me₂Si(OH)₂, (MeO)₄Si, (EtO)₄Si orderivatives thereof. Other alkylaminosilane compounds useful as siliconprecursors include (RR′N)_(4-n)SiH_(n), where R or R′ are independentlyhydrogen, methyl, ethyl, propyl or butyl and n=0-3. Other alkoxy silanesmay be described by the generic chemical formula (RO)_(4-n)SiL_(n),where R=methyl, ethyl, propyl or butyl and L=H, OH, F, Cl, Br or I andmixtures thereof. Also, higher silanes are used as silicon precursorswithin some embodiments of the invention. Higher silanes are disclosedin commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/688,797, filedon Oct. 17, 2003, entitled, “Silicon-containing Layer Deposition withSilicon Compounds,” and published as U.S. 20040224089, is incorporatedherein by reference in entirety for the purpose of describing siliconprecursors. Preferably, silicon precursors used during the depositionprocess herein include (Me₂N)₃SiH, (Et₂N)₃SiH, (Me₂N)₄Si, (Et₂N)₄Si orSiH₄.

In some embodiments, nitrogen may be added to the hafnium-containingmaterials and other dielectric materials deposited during processesdescribed herein. In one example, a hafnium oxide material may benitrided to form a hafnium oxynitride material, as well as a hafniumsilicate material may be nitrided to form a hafnium silicon oxynitridematerial. In one example, a hafnium silicate film is depositedsilicon-rich and contains little or no nitrogen near thesubstrate/dielectric interface. As the film thickness is increased, morehafnium is incorporated into the film in order to increase thedielectric constant. Nitrogen may also be added to the bulk of the filmto decrease the diffusion of dopants through the film. Alternatively,nitrogen may be added near the top of the film in order to provide astable capping layer.

Nitrogen may also be added to hafnium-containing materials and otherdielectrics materials by nitrogen bombardment, such as with a nitrogenplasma, annealing the substrate in a nitrogen-containing environment,and/or including a nitrogen precursor into an additional half reactionwithin the ALD cycle. A nitrogen plasma process may include exposing thesubstrate surface to a plasma nitridation process after a half reaction,at the completion of an ALD cycle and/or at the completion of thedeposition of a hafnium-containing material. For example, a nitridizingremote-plasma is exposed to a hafnium oxide film to form a hafniumoxynitride film or to a hafnium silicate film to form a hafnium siliconoxynitride film.

In another embodiment, a hafnium-containing material deposited on asubstrate is annealed in a nitrogen-containing environment, such as N₂,NH₃, N₂H₄, NO, N₂O, atomic-N or combinations thereof. The substrate isheated to a temperature in the range from about 800° C. to about 1,100°C. for a time period in the range from about 15 seconds to about 10minutes. For example, a substrate containing a hafnium silicate film isthermally annealed at 900° C. for 1 minute in a chamber filled with NH₃to form a hafnium silicon oxynitride film.

In another embodiment, the hafnium silicon oxynitride material may beformed during an ALD process by providing cycles containing a hafniumprecursor half reaction, a silicon precursor half reaction, a nitrogenprecursor half reaction, and at least one oxidizing gas half reaction.The nitrogen precursor half reaction may be added into the ALD processduring a cycle at any ratio relative to the hafnium, silicon and oxygenprecursor half reactions. In one example, a nitrogen precursor halfreaction is added at about every two ALD cycles of hafnium, silicon andoxygen precursor half reactions. Furthermore, the cycle ratio can bevaried in order to control the nitrogen ratio incorporated within filmdepth. In one embodiment, an ALD process may form a hafnium siliconoxynitride graded film with a higher concentration of nitrogen near thetop of the film than in a lower portion of the film. Generally, the topof the film containing the higher nitrogen concentration is about theupper 20% or less of the film, preferably, the upper 10% or less, andmore preferably, the upper 5% or less. If the silicon precursor halfreaction is omitted, than a hafnium oxynitride film may be grown in asimilar ALD cycle. Preferably, the oxidizing gas contains water vaporformed from a WVG system.

Exemplary nitrogen precursors may include: NH₃, N₂, hydrazines (e.g.,N₂H₄ or MeN₂H₃), amines (e.g., Me₃N, Me₂NH or MeNH₂), anilines (e.g.,C₆H₅NH₂), organic azides (e.g., MeN₃ or Me₃SiN₃), inorganic azides(e.g., NaN₃ or Cp₂CoN₃), radical nitrogen compounds (e.g., N₃, N₂, N, NHor NH₂), derivatives thereof or combinations thereof. Radical nitrogencompounds can be produced by heat, hot-wires or plasma.

In an alternative embodiment, a variety of metal oxides and metalsilicates may be formed by sequentially pulsing metal precursors withoxidizing gas containing water vapor derived from a WVG system. The ALDprocesses disclosed herein (e.g., process sequences 100, 200 and 300)above may be altered by substituting the hafnium and/or siliconprecursors with other metal precursors to form additional dielectricmaterials, such as hafnium aluminates, titanium silicates, zirconiumoxides, zirconium silicates, zirconium aluminates, tantalum oxides,tantalum silicates, titanium oxides, titanium silicates, silicon oxides,aluminum oxides, aluminum silicates, lanthanum oxides, lanthanumsilicates, lanthanum aluminates, nitrides thereof, derivatives thereofor combinations thereof. In one embodiment, two or more ALD processesare concurrently conducted to deposit one layer on top of another. Forexample, a combined process contains a first ALD process to form a firstdielectric material and a second ALD process to form a second dielectricmaterial. The combined process may be used to produce a variety ofhafnium-containing materials, for example, hafnium aluminum silicate orhafnium aluminum silicon oxynitride. In one example, a dielectric stackmaterial is formed by depositing a first hafnium-containing material ona substrate and subsequently depositing a second hafnium-containingmaterial thereon. The first and second hafnium-containing materials mayvary in composition, so that one layer may contain hafnium oxide and theother layer may contain hafnium silicate. In one aspect, the lower layercontains silicon. Alternative metal precursors used during ALD processesdescribed herein include ZrCl₄, Cp₂Zr, (Me₂N)₄Zr, (Et₂N)₄Zr, TaF₅,TaCl₅, (^(t)BuO)₅Ta, (Me₂N)₅Ta, (Et₂N)₅Ta, (Me₂N)₃Ta(N^(t)Bu),(Et₂N)₃Ta(N^(t)Bu), TiCl₄, TiI₄, (^(i)PrO)₄Ti, (Me₂N)₄Ti, (Et₂N)₄Ti,AlCl₃, Me₃Al, Me₂AlH, (AMD)₃La, ((Me₃Si)(^(t)Bu)N)₃La, ((Me₃Si)₂N)₃La,(^(t)Bu₂N)₃La, (^(i)Pr₂N)₃La, derivatives thereof or combinationsthereof.

Many industrial applications exist for the product dielectric materialsformed during deposition process described by the various embodimentsherein. Within the microelectronics industry, the product materials maybe used as high-k transistor gate dielectric materials, transistor gateinterface engineering, high-k capacitor dielectric materials (DRAMs),seed layers, diffusion barrier layers, adhesion layers, insulator layersand functionalized surface groups for patterned surfaces (e.g.,selective deposition). In the realm of microelectromechanical systems(MEMS), the materials formed during process described herein may be usedas insulating or structural films.

Hardware

FIG. 6 depicts a schematic cross-sectional view of process chamber 610that can be used to perform integrated circuit fabrication in accordancewith embodiments described herein. Process chamber 610 generally housessubstrate support pedestal 648, which is used to support a substrate(not shown). Substrate support pedestal 648 is movable in a verticaldirection inside process chamber 610 using displacement mechanism 648A.

Depending on the specific process, the substrate can be heated to somedesired temperature prior to or during deposition. For example,substrate support pedestal 648 may be heated using embedded heatingelement 652A. Substrate support pedestal 648 may be resistively heatedby applying an electric current from AC power supply 652 to heatingelement 652A. The substrate (not shown) is, in turn, heated by supportpedestal 648. Alternatively, substrate support pedestal 648 may beheated using radiant heaters such as, for example, lamps (not shown).

Temperature sensor 650A, such as a thermocouple, is also embedded insubstrate support pedestal 648 to monitor the temperature of pedestal648 in a conventional manner. The measured temperature is used in afeedback loop to control AC power supply 652 for heating element 652A,such that the substrate temperature can be maintained or controlled at adesired temperature which is suitable for the particular processapplication.

Vacuum pump 618 is used to evacuate process chamber 610 and to maintainthe pressure inside process chamber 610. Gas manifold 634, through whichprocess gases are introduced into process chamber 610, is located abovethe substrate support pedestal 648. Gas manifold 634 is connected to agas panel (not shown), which controls and supplies various process gasesto process chamber 610.

Proper control and regulation of the gas flows to gas manifold 634 areperformed by mass flow controllers (not shown) and microprocessorcontroller 670. Gas manifold 634 allows process gases to be introducedand uniformly distributed in process chamber 610. Additionally, gasmanifold 634 may optionally be heated to prevent condensation of anyreactive gases within the manifold.

Gas manifold 634 includes a plurality of electronic control valves (notshown). The electronic control valves as used herein refer to anycontrol valve capable of providing rapid and precise gas flow to processchamber 610 with valve open and close cycles at a rate within a rangefrom about 0.01 seconds to about 10 seconds, preferably from about 0.1seconds to about 5 seconds, for example, a longer cycle may last about 3seconds and a shorter cycle may last about 0.5 seconds.

Microprocessor controller 670 may be one of any form of general purposecomputer processor (CPU) that can be used in an industrial setting forcontrolling various chambers and sub-processors. The computer may useany suitable memory, such as random access memory, read only memory,floppy disk drive, compact disc drive, hard disk, or any other form ofdigital storage, local or remote. Various support circuits may becoupled to the CPU for supporting the processor in a conventionalmanner. Software routines, as required, may be stored in the memory orexecuted by a remotely located source (e.g., computer or server).

The software routines are executed to initiate process recipes orsequences. The software routines, when executed, transform the generalpurpose computer into a specific process computer that controls thechamber operation so that a chamber process is performed. For example,software routines may be used to precisely control the activation of theelectronic control valves for the execution of process sequencesaccording to the present invention. Alternatively, the software routinesmay be performed in the hardware, as an application specific integratedcircuit or other type of hardware implementation or a combination ofsoftware or hardware.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of one embodiment of processchamber 680 including gas delivery apparatus 730 adapted for cyclicdeposition, such as atomic layer deposition or rapid chemical vapordeposition. A detailed description for process chamber 680 is describedin commonly assigned U.S. patent Ser. No. 10/032,284, filed Dec. 21,2001, entitled, “Gas Delivery Apparatus and Method for Atomic LayerDeposition,” and published as U.S. 20030079686 and commonly assignedU.S. patent Ser. No. 10/281,079, filed Oct. 25, 2002, entitled, “GasDelivery Apparatus for Atomic Layer Deposition,” and published as U.S.20030121608, which are both incorporated herein in their entirety byreference. The terms atomic layer deposition (ALD), rapid chemical vapordeposition and sequential vapor deposition as used herein refer to thesequential introduction of reactants or precursors to deposit a thinlayer over a substrate structure. The sequential introduction ofreactants may be repeated to deposit a plurality of thin layers to forma conformal layer to a desired thickness. In some embodiments, areactant mixture containing more than one precursor (e.g., a hafniumprecursor and a silicon precursor) may be sequentially pulsed withanother precursor (e.g., water vapor). The process chamber 680 may alsobe adapted for other deposition techniques.

Process chamber 680 contains chamber body 682 having sidewalls 684 andbottom 686. Slit valve 688 in process chamber 680 provides access for arobot (not shown) to deliver and retrieve substrate 690, such as asemiconductor wafer with a diameter of 200 mm or 300 mm or a glasssubstrate, from process chamber 680.

Substrate support 692 supports substrate 690 on substrate receivingsurface 691 in process chamber 680. Substrate support 692 is mounted tolift motor 714 to raise and lower substrate support 692 and substrate690 disposed thereon. Lift plate 716 connected to lift motor 718 ismounted in process chamber 680 and raises and lowers pins 720 movablydisposed through substrate support 692. Pins 720 raise and lowersubstrate 690 over the surface of substrate support 692. Substratesupport 692 may include a vacuum chuck, an electrostatic chuck or aclamp ring for securing substrate 690 to substrate support 692 during aprocess.

Substrate support 692 may be heated to increase the temperature ofsubstrate 690 disposed thereon. For example, substrate support 692 maybe heated using an embedded heating element, such as a resistive heater,or may be heated using radiant heat, such as heating lamps disposedabove substrate support 692. Purge ring 722 may be disposed on substratesupport 692 to define purge channel 724 which provides a purge gas to aperipheral portion of substrate 690 to prevent deposition thereon.

Gas delivery apparatus 730 is disposed at an upper portion of chamberbody 682 to provide a gas, such as a process gas and/or a purge gas, toprocess chamber 680. Vacuum system 778 is in communication with pumpingchannel 779 to evacuate any desired gases from process chamber 680 andto help maintain a desired pressure or a desired pressure range insidepumping zone 766 of process chamber 680.

In one embodiment, process gas and/or purge gas enters process chamber680 normal (i.e., 90°) with respect to the plane of substrate 690 viagas delivery apparatus 730. Therefore, the surface of substrate 690 issymmetrically exposed to gases that allow uniform film formation onsubstrates. The process gas may include a hafnium-containing compound(e.g., TDEAH or HfCl₄) during one pulse and an oxidizing gas (e.g.,water vapor derived from a WVG system) in another pulse.

Process chamber 680, depicted in FIG. 7, may produce a more uniform filmthan chamber 610, depicted in FIG. 6. Also, process chamber 680 employsa smaller cycle time than process chamber 610, since process chamber 680usually takes less time to purge and less time to saturate a substratewith precursor than process chamber 610. Therefore, process chambers 610and 680 may dose a hafnium-containing compound for about 20 seconds orless, preferably process chamber 680 may dose the hafnium-containingcompound for about 10 seconds or less, more preferably for about 5seconds or less, for example, about 3 seconds or about 0.5 seconds.

In one embodiment, gas delivery apparatus 730 comprises chamber lid 732.Chamber lid 732 includes expanding channel 734 extending from a centralportion of chamber lid 732 and bottom surface 760 extending fromexpanding channel 734 to a peripheral portion of chamber lid 732. Bottomsurface 760 is sized and shaped to substantially cover substrate 690disposed on substrate support 692. Chamber lid 732 may have choke 762 ata peripheral portion of chamber lid 732 adjacent the periphery ofsubstrate 690. Cap portion 772 includes a portion of expanding channel734 and gas inlets 736A, 736B. Expanding channel 734 has gas inlets736A, 736B to provide gas flows from two similar valves 742A, 742B. Thegas may be provided together and/or separately from valves 742A, 742B.

In one embodiment, chamber lid 732 is made from a metallic material suchas stainless steel (e.g., iron-chromium alloys optionally containingnickel), aluminum, derivatives thereof, alloys thereof or combinationsthereof. In an alternative embodiment, chamber lid 732 contains athermally insulating material, such as fused quartz, sapphire, pyrolyticboron nitrite (PBN) material, ceramic, derivatives thereof orcombinations thereof. In one example, a thermally insulating liner isadded to chamber lid 732 covering a substantial portion of expandingchannel 734 and bottom surface 760 (not shown). Preferably, expandingchannel 734 and bottom surface 760 may be machined into chamber lid 732composed of a thermally insulating material. Additional liners made fromthe same or a similar thermally insulating material may be added withinprocess chamber 680. In one example, slit valve 688 contains liner 687,side walls 684 contain liner 683 and bottom surfaces 685 contains liner689.

In one configuration, valve 742A and valve 742B are coupled to separatereactant gas sources but are preferably coupled to the same purge gassource. For example, valve 742A is coupled to reactant gas source 738and valve 742B is coupled to reactant gas source 739, and both valves742A, 742B are coupled to purge gas source 740. Valves 742A, 742B eachinclude delivery line 743A, 743B having valve seat assembly 744A, 744Band includes purge line 745A, 745B having valve seat assembly 746A, 746Bin fluid with valves 752A, 752B. Delivery line 743A, 743B is in fluidcommunication with reactant gas source 738, 739 and is in fluidcommunication with gas inlets 736A, 736B of expanding channel 734.Additional reactant gas sources, delivery lines, gas inlets and valvesmay be added to gas delivery apparatus 730 in alternative embodiments(not shown). Valve seat assembly 744A, 744B of delivery line 743A, 743Bcontrols the flow of the reactant gas from reactant gas sources 738, 739to expanding channel 734. Purge line 745A, 745B is in fluidcommunication with purge gas source 740 and intersects delivery line743A, 743B downstream of valve seat assembly 744A, 744B of delivery line743A, 743B. Valve seat assembly 746A, 746B of purge line 745A, 745Bcontrols the flow of the purge gas from purge gas source 740 to deliveryline 743A, 743B. If a carrier gas is used to deliver reactant gases fromreactant gas source 738, 739, the same gas may be used as a carrier gasand a purge gas (e.g., nitrogen used as a carrier gas and a purge gas).

Each valve seat assembly 744A, 744B, 746A, 746B may comprise a diaphragmand a valve seat. The diaphragm may be biased open or closed and may beactuated closed or open respectively. The diaphragms may bepneumatically actuated or may be electrically actuated. Examples ofpneumatically actuated valves include pneumatically actuated valvesavailable from Fujikin and Veriflow. Examples of electrically actuatedvalves include electrically actuated valves available from Fujikin.Programmable logic controllers 748A, 748B may be coupled to valves 742A,742B to control actuation of the diaphragms of valve seat assemblies744A, 744B, 746A, 746B of valves 742A, 742B. Pneumatically actuatedvalves may provide pulses of gases in time periods as low as about 0.020seconds. Electrically actuated valves may provide pulses of gases intime periods as low as about 0.005 seconds. Generally pneumatically andelectrically actuated valves may provide pulses of gases in time periodsas high as about 3 seconds. Although higher time period for gas pulsingis possible, a typical ALD process utilizes ALD valves to generatepulses of gas while being opened for an interval of about 5 seconds orless, preferably about 3 seconds or less, and more preferably about 2seconds or less. In one embodiment, an ALD valve pulses for an intervalin a range from about 0.005 seconds to about 3 seconds, preferably fromabout 0.02 seconds to about 2 seconds and more preferably from about0.05 seconds to about 1 second. An electrically actuated valve typicallyrequires the use of a driver coupled between the valve and theprogrammable logic controller.

Each valve 742A, 742B may be a zero dead volume valve to enable flushingof a reactant gas from delivery line 743A, 743B when valve seat assembly744A, 744B of the valve is closed. For example, purge line 745A, 745Bmay be positioned adjacent valve seat assembly 744A, 744B of deliveryline 743A, 743B. When valve seat assembly 744A, 744B is closed, purgeline 745A, 745B may provide a purge gas to flush delivery line 743A,743B. In one embodiment, warmed purge gas (e.g., about 50° C. to about200° C.) is passed through to heat valve set assembly 744A, 744B inorder to diminish or stop the condensation of precursors thereon, aswell as within delivery lines 743A, 743B. In the embodiment shown, purgeline 745A, 745B is positioned slightly spaced from valve seat assembly744A, 744B of delivery line 743A, 743B so that a purge gas is notdirectly delivered into valve seat assembly 744A, 744B when open. A zerodead volume valve as used herein is defined as a valve which hasnegligible dead volume (i.e., not necessary zero dead volume).

Each valve 742A, 742B may be adapted to provide a combined gas flowand/or separate gas flows of reactant gas 738, 739 and purge gas 740. Inreference to valve 742A, one example of a combined gas flow of reactantgas 738 and purge gas 740 provided by valve 742A comprises a continuousflow of a purge gas from purge gas source 740 through purge line 745Aand pulses of a reactant gas from reactant gas source 738 throughdelivery line 743A. The continuous flow of the purge gas may be providedby opening the diaphragm of valve seat assembly 746A of purge line 745A.The pulses of the reactant gas from reactant gas source 738 may beprovided by opening and closing the diaphragm of valve seat 744A ofdelivery line 743A. In reference to valve 742A, one example of separategas flows of reactant gas 738 and purge gas 740 provided by valve 742Acomprises pulses of a purge gas from purge gas source 740 through purgeline 745A and pulses of a reactant gas from reactant gas source 738through delivery line 743A. The pulses of the purge gas may be providedby opening and closing the diaphragm of valve seat assembly 746A ofpurge line 745A. The pulses of the reactant gas from reactant gas source738 may be provided by opening and closing diaphragm valve seat 744A ofdelivery line 743A.

Delivery lines 743A, 743B of valves 742A, 742B may be coupled to gasinlets 736A, 736B through gas conduits 750A, 750B. Gas conduits 750A,750B may be integrated or may be separate from valves 742A, 742B. In oneaspect, valves 742A, 742B are coupled in close proximity to expandingchannel 734 to reduce any unnecessary volume of delivery line 743A, 743Band gas conduits 750A, 750B between valves 742A, 742B and gas inlets736A, 736B.

In FIG. 7, expanding channel 734 comprises a channel which has an innerdiameter which increases from an upper portion to a lower portion ofexpanding channel 734 adjacent bottom surface 760 of chamber lid 732. Inone specific embodiment, the inner diameter of expanding channel 734 fora chamber adapted to process 200 mm diameter substrates is between about0.2 inches (0.51 cm) and about 1.0 inches (2.54 cm), preferably betweenabout 0.3 inches (0.76 cm) and about 0.9 inches (2.29 cm) and morepreferably between about 0.3 inches (0.76 cm) and about 0.5 inches (1.27cm) at upper portion 737 of the expanding channel 734 and between about0.5 inches (1.27 cm) and about 3.0 inches (7.62 cm), preferably betweenabout 0.75 inches (1.91 cm) and about 2.5 inches (6.35 cm) and morepreferably between about 1.1 inches (2.79 cm) and about 2.0 inches (5.08cm) at lower portion 735 of expanding channel 734.

In another specific embodiment, the inner diameter of expanding channel734 for a chamber adapted to process 300 mm diameter substrates isbetween about 0.2 inches (0.51 cm) and about 1.0 inches (2.54 cm),preferably between about 0.3 inches (0.76 cm) and about 0.9 inches (2.29cm) and more preferably between about 0.3 inches (0.76 cm) and about 0.5inches (1.27 cm) at upper portion 737 of the expanding channel 734 andbetween about 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) and about 3.0 inches (7.62 cm),preferably between about 0.75 inches (1.91 cm) and about 2.5 inches(6.35 cm) and more preferably between about 1.2 inches (3.05 cm) andabout 2.2 inches (5.59 cm) at lower portion 735 of expanding channel 734for a 300 mm substrate. In general, the above dimension apply to anexpanding channel adapted to provide a total gas flow rate in a rangefrom about 500 sccm to about 3,000 sccm.

In other specific embodiments, the dimension may be altered toaccommodate a certain gas flow therethrough. In general, a larger gasflow will require a larger diameter expanding channel. In oneembodiment, expanding channel 734 may be shaped as a truncated cone(including shapes resembling a truncated cone). Whether a gas isprovided toward the walls of expanding channel 734 or directly downwardtowards the substrate, the velocity of the gas flow decreases as the gasflow travels through expanding channel 734 due to the expansion of thegas. The reduction of the velocity of the gas flow helps reduce thelikelihood the gas flow will blow off reactants absorbed on the surfaceof substrate 690.

Not wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that the diameter ofexpanding channel 734, which is gradually increasing from upper portion737 to lower portion 735 of expanding channel 734, allows less of anadiabatic expansion of a gas through expanding channel 734 which helpsto control the temperature of the gas. For instance, a sudden adiabaticexpansion of a gas delivered through gas inlet 736A, 736B into expandingchannel 734 may result in a drop in the temperature of the gas which maycause condensation of the precursor vapor and formation of particles. Onthe other hand, a gradually expanding channel 734 according toembodiments of the present invention is believed to provide less of anadiabatic expansion of a gas. Therefore, more heat may be transferred toor from the gas, and, thus, the temperature of the gas may be moreeasily controlled by controlling the surrounding temperature of the gas(i.e., controlling the temperature of chamber lid 732). The graduallyexpanding channel 734 may comprise one or more tapered inner surfaces,such as a tapered straight surface, a concave surface, a convex surface,or combinations thereof or may comprise sections of one or more taperedinner surfaces (i.e., a portion tapered and a portion non-tapered).

In one embodiment, gas inlets 736A, 736B are located adjacent upperportion 737 of expanding channel 734. In other embodiments, one or moregas inlets 736A, 736B may be located along the length of expandingchannel 734 between upper portion 737 and lower portion 735. Not wishingto be bound by theory, gas flowing from gas inlets 736A, 736B into andthrough expanding channel 734 of chamber lid 732 forms a circular flow.Although the exact flow pattern through expanding channel 734 is notknown, it is believed that the circular flow may travel with a flowpattern such as a vortex flow, a helix flow, a spiral flow or derivativethereof through expanding channel 734. The circular flow may be providedin a processing region located between lower portion 735 and substratereceiving surface 691 as opposed to in a compartment separated fromsubstrate 690. In one aspect, the vortex flow may help to establish amore efficient purge of expanding channel 734 due to the sweeping actionof the circular flow across the inner surface of expanding channel 734.Also, a circular gas flow provides a consistent and conformal deliveryof gas across the surface of substrate 690.

In FIG. 7, control unit 780, such as a programmed personal computer,work station computer, or the like, may be coupled to process chamber680 to control processing conditions. For example, control unit 780 maybe configured to control flow of various process gases and purge gasesfrom gas sources 738, 739, 740 through valves 742A, 742B duringdifferent stages of a substrate process sequence. Illustratively,control unit 780 comprises central processing unit (CPU) 782, supportcircuitry 784, and memory 786 containing associated control software783. Control unit 780 may also be configured to control WVG system 286and/or regulate ampoule 282.

Control unit 780 may be one of any form of general purpose computerprocessor that can be used in an industrial setting for controllingvarious chambers and sub-processors. CPU 782 may use any suitable memory786, such as random access memory, read only memory, floppy disk drive,compact disc drive, hard disk, or any other form of digital storage,local or remote. Various support circuits may be coupled to CPU 782 forsupporting process chamber 680. Control unit 780 may be coupled toanother controller that is located adjacent individual chambercomponents, such as programmable logic controllers 748A, 748B of valves742A, 742B. Bi-directional communications between control unit 780 andvarious other components of process chamber 680 are handled throughnumerous signal cables collectively referred to as signal buses 788,some of which are illustrated in FIG. 7. In addition to control ofprocess gases and purge gases from gas sources 738, 739, 740 and fromthe programmable logic controllers 748A, 748B of valves 742A, 742B,control unit 780 may be configured to be responsible for automatedcontrol of other activities used in wafer processing, such as wafertransport, temperature control, chamber evacuation, among otheractivities, some of which are described elsewhere herein.

In another embodiment, process chamber 680 may be adapted to receivethree or more gas flows together, partially together (i.e., two of threegas flows together) or separately through three or more gas inlets fromconnected to three or more gas conduits. Each conduit is coupled to asingle or plurality of valves. Further disclosure of process chamber 680adapted to flow three or more process gas flows is described in commonlyassigned U.S. patent Ser. No. 10/032,284, filed Dec. 21, 2001, entitled,“Gas Delivery Apparatus and Method for Atomic Layer Deposition,” andpublished as U.S. 20030079686, which is incorporated herein byreference. In one example, the three gas flows may contain a hafniumprecursor, a silicon precursor and an oxidizing gas, where, the firstflow includes TDEAH, TDMAH or HfCl₄, the second flow includes TDMAS,Tris-DMAS or silane and the third flow includes an oxidizing gascontaining water vapor from a WVG system.

FIG. 8 depicts a schematic cross-sectional view of process chamber 810that may be used to perform integrated circuit fabrication in accordancewith embodiments described herein. Process chamber 810 is similar infunction to process chamber 680 and contains thermally insulatingmaterials to operate at high temperatures (e.g., <800° C.). The processchamber 810 contains liners made from a thermally insulating material,such as fused quartz, sapphire, pyrolytic boron nitrite (PBN) material,ceramic, derivatives thereof or combinations thereof. In one embodiment,the gas delivery apparatus 730 from process chamber 680 may be adaptedto be used on process chamber 810.

Process chamber 810 generally houses substrate support pedestal 812,which is used to support substrate 802. Substrate support pedestal 812is rotatable and vertically movable within process chamber 810.Substrate support pedestal 812 may contain a heating element to controlthe temperature of substrate 802 thereon. Cap portion 872 is disposed onlid 832 of process chamber 810 and contains gas inlets 836 a, 836 b, 836c and 836 d. Cap portion 872 may also contain adapter 874 for amicrowave apparatus or a remote plasma apparatus used during a plasmaprocess, such as a PE-ALD process, a pre-clean process or a nitridationprocess. Alternatively, adapter 874 is absent from cap portion 872.

Gas delivery system 811 is connected to process chamber 810 through capportion 872. Gas delivery system 811 contains at least one and as manyas about ten componential sets of gas inlet 836, conduit system 841,valve 843 and/or valve 845 and source 842 and/or source 844. Asillustrated in FIG. 8, gas delivery system 811 contains fourcomponential sets containing gas inlets 836 a, 836 b, 836 c and 836 d,conduit systems 841 a, 841 b, 841 c and 841 d, valves 843 a, 843 b, 843c and 843 d, valves 845 a, 845 b, 845 c and 845 d, sources 842 a, 842 b,842 c, 842 d, and sources 844 a, 844 b, 844 c and 844 d.

In an alternative embodiment, conduit system 841 may further containgradually expanding gas conduits forming nozzles at the ends that arealso positioned in fluid communication with gas inlets 836 a, 836 b, 836c and 836 d. The nozzles or ends that are useful in some embodimentsdescribed herein are further described in commonly assigned U.S. patentSer. No. 11/119,388, filed Apr. 29, 2005, entitled, “Control of Gas Flowand Delivery to Suppress the Formation of Particles in an MOCVD/ALDSystem,” which is incorporated herein by reference to support disclosureof the gradually expanding gas conduits. The gas conduit geometryprevents large temperature drops by providing passing gases a means togradually expand through an increasing tapered flow channel. In oneembodiment, the flow channel transitions from the cross-sections ofdelivery gas lines with internal diameter in a range from about 3 mm toabout 15 mm to gas inlet 836 with a larger diameter in a range fromabout 10 mm to about 20 mm over a distance in a range from about 30 mmto about 100 mm. A gradual increase of the diameter of a flow channelallows the expanding gases to be in near equilibrium and prevents arapid lost of heat to maintain a substantially constant temperature.Expanding gas conduits may comprise one or more tapered inner surfacessuch as a tapered straight surface, a concave surface, a convex surface,derivatives thereof or combinations thereof or may comprise sections ofone or more tapered inner surfaces (e.g., a portion tapered and aportion non-tapered).

Conduit system 841 contains one or several conduits and tubes connectinggas inlets 836, valves 843 and 845 and sources 842 and 844. Valve 843controls the introduction of precursors or gases from source 842 to gasinlet 836 and valve 845 controls the introduction of precursors or gasesfrom source 844 to gas inlet 836. Valves 843 and 845 may include a valveand a valve seat assembly containing a diaphragm and a valve seat.Pneumatically actuated valves may provide pulses of gases in timeperiods as low as about 0.020 seconds. Electrically actuated valves mayprovide pulses of gases in time periods as low as about 0.005 seconds.Generally, pneumatically and electrically actuated valves may providepulses of gases in time periods as high as about 3 seconds. Althoughhigher time period for gas pulsing is possible, a typical ALD processutilizes ALD valves that generate pulses of gas while being opened foran interval of about 5 seconds or less, preferably about 3 seconds orless, and more preferably about 2 seconds or less. In one embodiment, anALD valve pulses for an interval in a range from about 0.005 seconds toabout 3 seconds, preferably from about 0.02 seconds to about 2 secondsand more preferably from about 0.05 seconds to about 1 second. Anelectrically actuated valve typically requires the use of a drivercoupled between the valve and the programmable logic controller. Acontrol unit (not shown), such as a programmed personal computer, workstation computer, or the like, may be included with process chamber 810,including valves 843 and 845, sources 842 and 844, vacuum system 833,substrate support 812, WVG system 286 and ampoule 282 to controlprocessing conditions as described herein.

Sources 842 and 844 may provide a precursor source, a purge gas sourceand/or a carrier gas source used during the deposition process. Aprecursor source may include more than one chemical precursor (e.g., ahafnium precursor and a silicon precursor) and may include a carriergas. A precursor source includes ampoules, bubblers, tanks, containersor cartridges. Also, a precursor source includes a water vapor generator(WVG) system in fluid communication with gas delivery system 811 asdescribed herein. A purge gas source and/or a carrier gas source usuallya tank, a container, a cartridge or an in-house plumbed supply system,may provide nitrogen, argon, helium, hydrogen, forming gas orcombinations thereof to gas delivery system 811.

Gas inlets 836 a, 836 b, 836 c and 836 d may be located along the lengthof expanding channel 834 within cap portion 872. Not wishing to be boundby theory, gas flowing from gas inlets 836 a, 836 b, 836 c and 836 dinto and through expanding channel 834 forms a circular flow. Althoughthe exact flow pattern through expanding channel 834 is not known, it isbelieved that the circular flow may travel with a flow pattern such as avortex flow, a helix flow, a spiral flow or derivative thereof throughthe expanding channel 834. The circular flow may be provided in aprocessing region located between funnel liner 820 and substrate support812 as opposed to in a compartment separated from substrate 802. In oneaspect, the vortex flow may help to establish a more efficient purge ofthe processing region due to the sweeping action of the circular flowacross the inner surface of expanding channel 834. Also, a circular gasflow provides a consistent and conformal delivery of gas across thesurface of substrate 802.

FIGS. 8 and 9A-9B depict schematic views of thermally insulating linersthat may be used within process chamber 810 and other process chambersduring deposition processes described herein. Expanding channel 834 maybe formed within cap portion 872 and between funnel liner 820. Thermalisolator 870 is disposed around cap portion 872. Funnel liner 820 may beheld against to the underside of lid 832 by retaining ring liner 819 byaligning ledge surface 817 of retaining ring liner 819 with ledgesurface 818 of funnel liner 820. Retaining ring liner 819 may beattached to the underside of lid 832 by fasteners 837, such as fittings,bolts, screws or pins. In one example, fastener 837 is a fittinginserted and set into groove 816 of retaining ring liner 819. Funnelliner 820 may also contain several pins 838 that are loosely fitted toprovide the funnel liner 820 freedom to thermally expand while under aheating process. In one embodiment, funnel liner 820 becomes aligned andcentered with substrate 802 after being thermally expanded.Alternatively, funnel liner 820 and retaining ring liner 819 may beformed as a single piece.

Process chamber 810 may further contain upper process liner 822 andlower process liner 824. Lower process liner 824 is disposed on bottomsurface 827 and upper process liner 822 is disposed on lower processliner 824 and along wall surface 830 of chamber body 803. Slip valveliner 826 is positioned to protrude through upper process liner 822 andinto process region 815. Liners including funnel liner 820, retainingring liner 819, upper process liner 822, lower process liner 824 andslip valve liner 826 are thermally insulating material, such as fusedquartz, sapphire, PBN material, ceramic, derivatives thereof orcombinations thereof. Generally, the liners are stressed relieved toprevent failure to thermal cycling during start-up and cool-down cyclesof the deposition processes described herein. The liners are capable ofwithstanding temperatures of about 800° C. or higher, preferably about1,000° C. or higher, more preferably about 1,200° C. or higher.Additionally, the liners are flame polished to achieve a surface finishof about 2 microinches (about 0.051 μm) or less. The polished finishprovides a smooth surface so that process reactants are delivered withlittle or no turbulence, as well as minimizes nucleation sites on theliners that may undesirably promote film growth thereon. Also, flamepolishing removes surface flaws (e.g., pits and cracks) to minimize thenucleation of thermal stress-induced cracks.

Purge line 829 is a chamber back side purge line disposed from thebottom of chamber body 803 to chamber lid 832 and funnel liner 820.Purge line 829 is situated to allow a flow of purge gas between wallsurface 830 and upper/lower process liners 822 and 824 and into processregion 815. A source of purge gas may be connected to purge line 829through inlets 804. Purge gas flowing through purge line 826 bufferswall surface 830 from contaminants and excessive heat that may escapeprocess region 815. Contaminants include precursors or reaction productsthat may by-pass upper/lower process liners 822 and 824 to deposit onwall surface 830. Also, heat originating from process region 815 mayevade upper/lower process liners 822 and 824 and absorb into processbody 803. However, a stream of purge gas flowing through purge line 826transports contaminants and heat back into process region 815. Thermalchoke plate 809 is disposed on the outside of chamber body 803 toprevent heat loss from process region 815.

FIG. 9B depicts a schematic view of upper process liner 822, lowerprocess liner 824 and slip valve liner 826. Upper process liner 822 andlower process liner 824 may contain lift pin holes 821 and 823 to acceptsubstrate lift pins (not shown) during movement of substrate 802. Upperprocess liner 822 and lower process liner 824 are positioned within theprocess chamber to align lift pin holes 821 with lift pin holes 823.Upper process liner 822 further contains vacuum port 835 accept exhaustadaptor 831 and slit valve port 825 to accept slip valve liner 826.Exhaust adaptor 831 is positioned through chamber body 803 and vacuumport 835 so that process region 815 is in fluid communication withvacuum system 833. Substrates pass through slip valve liner 826 to enterand exit process chamber 810. Slip valve liner 826 may also protrudethrough thermal choke plate 809.

Pumping efficiency may be controlled by using choke gap 840. Choke gap840 is a space formed between the bottom edge of funnel liner 820 andtop of substrate support pedestal 812. Choke gap 840 is acircumferential gap that may be varied depending on the processconditions and the required pumping efficiency. Choke gap 840 isincreased by lowering substrate support pedestal 812 or decreased byraising substrate support pedestal 812. The pumping conductance from thepumping port (not shown) in the lower portion of process chamber 810 tothe center of expanding channel 834 is modified by changing the distanceof choke gap 840 to control the thickness and the uniformity of a filmduring deposition processes described herein.

FIG. 10 depicts a schematic view of process chamber lid assembly 1050that may be used on the ALD process chambers described herein. In oneexample, lid assembly 1050 may replace lid 832 and gas delivery system811 on process chamber 810. In another example, lid assembly 1050 mayreplace lid 732 and gas delivery apparatus 730 on process chamber 680.Lid assembly 1050 contains valve manifold support 1030 disposed on lid1032. Thermal isolators 1002 a and 1002 b separate valve manifoldsupport 1030 from lid 1032 and any heat dissipating therefrom. Conduits1020 and 1022 traverse through lid 1032 to provide fluid communicationfrom external sources or devices into the process chamber. Valvemanifold support 1030 contains adapter 1074, valves 1043 a, 1043 b, 1043c and 1043 d and valves 1045 a, 1045 b, 1045 c and 1045 d. Adapter 1074supports a microwave apparatus or a remote plasma apparatus used duringa plasma process, such as a PE-ALD process, a pre-clean process or anitridation process. Valves 1043 a, 1043 b, 1043 c and 1043 d and valves1045 a, 1045 b, 1045 c and 1045 d are connected by a conduit system (notshown) within valve manifold support 1030. Precursor sources, purge gassources and/or carrier gas sources are in fluid communication with aprocess chamber through lid assembly 1050 during a deposition process.In one example, lid assembly 1050 is plumbed with a conduit systemsimilar to conduit system 841 within gas delivery system 811.

A “substrate surface,” as used herein, refers to any substrate ormaterial surface formed on a substrate upon which film processing isperformed. For example, a substrate surface on which processing can beperformed include materials such as silicon, silicon oxide, strainedsilicon, silicon on insulator (SOI), carbon doped silicon oxides,silicon nitride, doped silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, glass,sapphire, and any other materials such as metals, metal nitrides, metalalloys, and other conductive materials, depending on the application.Barrier layers, metals or metal nitrides on a substrate surface includetitanium, titanium nitride, tungsten nitride, tantalum and tantalumnitride. Substrates may have various dimensions, such as 200 mm or 300mm diameter wafers, as well as, rectangular or square panes. Processesof the embodiments described herein deposit hafnium-containing materialson many substrates and surfaces. Substrates on which embodiments of theinvention may be useful include, but are not limited to semiconductorwafers, such as crystalline silicon (e.g., Si<100> or Si<111>), siliconoxide, strained silicon, silicon germanium, doped or undopedpolysilicon, doped or undoped silicon wafers and patterned ornon-patterned wafers. Substrates may be exposed to a pretreatmentprocess to polish, etch, reduce, oxidize, hydroxylate, anneal and/orbake the substrate surface.

“Atomic layer deposition” or “cyclical deposition” as used herein refersto the sequential introduction of two or more reactive compounds todeposit a layer of material on a substrate surface. The two, three ormore reactive compounds may alternatively be introduced into a reactionzone of a process chamber. Usually, each reactive compound is separatedby a time delay to allow each compound to adhere and/or react on thesubstrate surface. In one aspect, a first precursor or compound A ispulsed into the reaction zone followed by a first time delay. Next, asecond precursor or compound B is pulsed into the reaction zone followedby a second delay. During each time delay a purge gas, such as nitrogen,is introduced into the process chamber to purge the reaction zone orotherwise remove any residual reactive compound or by-products from thereaction zone. Alternatively, the purge gas may flow continuouslythroughout the deposition process so that only the purge gas flowsduring the time delay between pulses of reactive compounds. The reactivecompounds are alternatively pulsed until a desired film or filmthickness is formed on the substrate surface. In either scenario, theALD process of pulsing compound A, purge gas, pulsing compound B andpurge gas is a cycle. A cycle can start with either compound A orcompound B and continue the respective order of the cycle untilachieving a film with the desired thickness. In another embodiment, afirst precursor containing compound A, a second precursor containingcompound B and a third precursor containing compound C are eachseparately pulsed into the process chamber. Alternatively, a pulse of afirst precursor may overlap in time with a pulse of a second precursorwhile a pulse of a third precursor does not overlap in time with eitherpulse of the first and second precursors.

EXAMPLES

During Examples 1-10, the ALD processes are maintained at a temperaturein a range from about 70° C. to about 1,000° C., preferably from about100° C. to about 650° C., for example, about 350° C. The ALD processesmay be conducted having the process chamber at a pressure in the rangefrom about 0.1 Torr to about 100 Torr, preferably from about 1 Torr toabout 10 Torr. A carrier gas (e.g., N₂) may have a flow rate in therange from about 2 slm to about 22 slm, preferably about 10 slm. Anoxidizing gas containing water vapor was produced by a water vaporgenerator (WVG) system containing a metal catalyst, available fromFujikin of America, Inc., located in Santa Clara, Calif. The WVG systemformed the oxidizing gas from a hydrogen source gas and an oxygen sourcegas. The substrates were exposed to an oxidizing gas containing watervapor from the WVG system for about during a pre-treatment process. Thepre-treatment process occurred for a period in a range from about 5seconds to about 30 seconds. Deposited materials were formed with athickness in the range from about 2 Å to about 1,000 Å, preferably, fromabout 5 Å to about 100 Å, and more preferably, from about 10 Å to about50 Å.

Example 1

A hafnium oxide film is formed during an ALD process by sequentiallypulsing a hafnium precursor with an oxidizing gas produced by a WVGsystem. A substrate surface is exposed to a pretreatment process to formhydroxyl groups thereon. The hafnium precursor, HfCl₄, is heated withina precursor ampoule at a temperature in a range from about 150° C. toabout 200° C. A nitrogen carrier gas is directed into the precursorampoule containing the hafnium precursor with a flow rate of about 400sccm. The hafnium precursor saturates the carrier gas and is providedinto the chamber for about 3 seconds. A purge gas of nitrogen isprovided into the chamber for about 2.5 seconds to remove any unboundhafnium precursor. Hydrogen gas and oxygen gas with the flow rate ofabout 100 sccm and about 120 sccm respectively, are supplied to the WVGsystem. The oxidizing gas coming from the WVG system contains water witha flow rate of about 100 sccm and oxygen with a flow rate of about 70sccm. The oxidizing gas is provided into the chamber for about 1.7seconds. The purge gas of nitrogen is provided into the chamber forabout 2.5 seconds to remove any unbound or non-reacted reagents, such asbyproducts, hafnium precursor, oxygen and/or water or any by-productssuch as HCl. Each ALD cycle forms about 1 Å of a hafnium oxide film.

Example 2

A hafnium oxide film is formed during an ALD process by sequentiallypulsing a hafnium precursor with an oxidizing gas. A substrate surfaceis exposed to a pretreatment process to form hydroxyl groups thereon.The hafnium precursor, HfCl₄, is heated within a precursor ampoule at atemperature in a range from about 150° C. to about 200° C. A nitrogencarrier gas is directed into the precursor ampoule containing thehafnium precursor with a flow rate of about 400 sccm. The hafniumprecursor saturates the carrier gas and is provided into the chamber forabout 0.5 seconds. A purge gas of nitrogen is provided into the chamberfor about 0.5 seconds to remove any unbound hafnium precursor. Hydrogengas and oxygen gas with the flow rate of about 50 sccm and about 60 sccmrespectively, are supplied to the WVG system. The oxidizing gas comingfrom the WVG system contains water with a flow rate of about 50 sccm andoxygen with a flow rate of about 35 sccm. The oxidizing gas is providedinto the chamber for about 0.5 seconds. The purge gas of nitrogen isprovided into the chamber for about 0.5 seconds to remove any unbound ornon-reacted reagents, such as hafnium precursor, oxygen and/or water orany by-products, such as HCl. Each ALD cycle forms about 2.5 Å of ahafnium oxide film.

Example 3

A hafnium silicate film is formed during with an ALD process bysequentially pulsing a hafnium precursor with an oxidizing gas followedby pulsing a silicon precursor with the oxidizing gas. A substratesurface is exposed to a pretreatment process to form hydroxyl groupsthereon. The hafnium precursor, TDEAH, and silicon precursor, TDMAS, areheated within separate precursor ampoules at room temperature (about 23°C.). These precursors are vaporized individually in vaporizers at about110° C. to about 130° C. and individually mixed with an inert carriergas. The hafnium precursor saturates the carrier gas and is providedinto the chamber for about 1 second. A purge gas of nitrogen is providedinto the chamber for about 1 second to remove any unbound hafniumprecursor. Hydrogen gas and oxygen gas with the flow rate of about 100sccm and about 120 sccm respectively, are supplied to the WVG system.The oxidizing gas coming from the WVG system contains water with a flowrate of about 100 sccm and oxygen with a flow rate of about 70 sccm. Theoxidizing gas is provided into the chamber for about 1.7 seconds. Thepurge gas of nitrogen is provided into the chamber for 5 seconds toremove any unbound or non-reacted reagents, such as hafnium precursor,oxygen and/or water or by-products. A silicon precursor is provided intothe chamber for about 1 second. A purge gas of nitrogen is provided intothe chamber for about 1 second to remove any unbound precursor orcontaminant. The oxidizing gas is provided into the chamber for about1.7 seconds. The purge gas of nitrogen is provided into the chamber forabout 5 seconds. Each ALD cycle forms about 1 Å of a hafnium silicatefilm.

Example 4

A hafnium silicate film is formed during with an ALD process bysequentially pulsing a hafnium precursor with oxidizing gas followed bypulsing a silicon precursor with the oxidizing gas. A substrate surfaceis exposed to a pretreatment process to form hydroxyl groups thereon.The hafnium precursor, HfCl₄, and silicon precursor, Tris-DMAS, areheated within separate precursor ampoules at room temperature (about 23°C.). These precursors are vaporized individually in vaporizers at about110° C. to about 130° C. and individually mixed with an inert carriergas. The hafnium precursor saturates the carrier gas and is providedinto the chamber for about 1 second. A purge gas of nitrogen is providedinto the chamber for about 1 second. Hydrogen gas and oxygen gas withthe flow rate of about 100 sccm and about 120 sccm respectively, aresupplied to the WVG system. The oxidizing gas coming from the WVG systemcontains water with a flow rate of about 100 sccm of water and oxygenwith a flow rate of about 70 sccm. The oxidizing gas is provided intothe chamber for about 1.7 seconds. The purge gas of nitrogen is providedinto the chamber for about 1 second to remove any unbound or non-reactedreagents, such as hafnium precursor, oxygen and/or water. A siliconprecursor is provided into the chamber for about 1 second. A purge gasof nitrogen is provided into the chamber for about 1 second to removeany unbound precursor or contaminant. The oxidizing gas is precursorinto the chamber for about 1.7 seconds. The purge gas of nitrogen isprecursor into the chamber for about 5 seconds. Each ALD cycle formsabout 1 Å of a hafnium silicate film.

Example 5

A hafnium silicate film is formed during with an ALD process bysimultaneously pulsing a hafnium precursor and a silicon precursorsequentially with oxidizing gas. A substrate surface is exposed to apretreatment process to form hydroxyl groups thereon. The hafniumprecursor, TDEAH, and silicon precursor, TDMAS, are heated withinseparate precursor ampoules at room temperature (about 23° C.). Theseprecursors are vaporized individually in vaporizers at about 110° C. toabout 130° C. and individually mixed with an inert carrier gas. Thehafnium precursor and the silicon precursor are each simultaneouslyprovided into the chamber for about 1 second. A purge gas of nitrogen isprovided into the chamber for about 1 second to remove any unboundhafnium or silicon precursors. Hydrogen gas and oxygen gas with the flowrate of about 100 sccm and about 120 sccm respectively, are supplied tothe WVG system. The oxidizing gas comes from the WVG system containswater with a flow rate of about 100 sccm and oxygen with a flow rate ofabout 70 sccm. The oxidizing gas is provided into the chamber for about1.7 seconds. The purge gas of nitrogen is provided into the chamber forabout 5 seconds to remove any unbound or non-reacted reagents, such asbyproducts, hafnium precursor, silicon precursor, oxygen and/or water.Each ALD cycle forms about 1 Å of a hafnium silicate film.

Example 6

A hafnium silicate film is formed during with an ALD process bysimultaneously pulsing a hafnium precursor and a silicon precursorsequentially with oxidizing gas. A substrate surface is exposed to apretreatment process to form hydroxyl groups thereon. The hafniumprecursor, HfCl₄, and silicon precursor, Tris-DMAS, are heated withinseparate precursor ampoules at room temperature (about 23° C.). Theseprecursors are vaporized individually in vaporizers at about 110° C. toabout 130° C. and individually mixed with an inert carrier gas. Thehafnium precursor and the silicon precursor are each simultaneouslyprovided into the chamber for about 1 second. A purge gas of nitrogen isprovided into the chamber for about 1 second to remove any unboundhafnium or silicon precursors. Hydrogen gas and oxygen gas with the flowrate of about 100 sccm and about 120 sccm respectively, are supplied tothe WVG system. The oxidizing gas comes from the WVG system containswater with a flow rate of about 100 sccm and oxygen with a flow rate ofabout 70 sccm. The oxidizing gas is provided into the chamber for about1.7 seconds. The purge gas of nitrogen is provided into the chamber forabout 5 seconds to remove any unbound or non-reacted reagents, such asbyproducts, hafnium precursor, silicon precursor, oxygen and/or water.Each ALD cycle forms about 1 Å of a hafnium silicate film.

Example 7

A hafnium oxide film is grown with an ALD process by sequentiallypulsing a hafnium precursor with in-situ steam formed from a WVG system.A substrate surface is exposed to a pretreatment process to formhydroxyl groups thereon. The hafnium precursor, HfCl₄, is heated withina precursor ampoule at a temperature from about 150° C. to about 200° C.A nitrogen carrier gas is directed into the precursor ampoule containingthe hafnium precursor with a flow rate of about 400 sccm. The hafniumprecursor saturates the carrier gas and is provided into the chamber forabout 1.5 seconds. A purge gas of nitrogen is provided into the chamberfor about 2.5 seconds to remove any unbound hafnium precursor. Forminggas (5 vol % H₂ with balance in N₂) and oxygen gas each with the flowrate of about 100 sccm are supplied to the WVG system. The oxidizing gascomes from the WVG system contains water with a flow rate of about 2.5sccm and oxygen with a flow rate of about 98 sccm. The oxidizing gas isoxidizing gas into the chamber for about 1.7 seconds. The purge gas ofnitrogen is provided into the chamber for about 2.5 seconds to removeany unbound or non-reacted reagents, such as byproducts, hafniumprecursor, oxygen and/or water.

Example 8

A hafnium silicate film is formed during with an ALD process bysequentially pulsing a hafnium precursor with oxidizing gas followed bypulsing a silicon precursor with the oxidizing gas. A substrate surfaceis exposed to a pretreatment process to form hydroxyl groups thereon.The hafnium precursor, TDEAH, and silicon precursor, TDMAS, are heatedwithin separate precursor ampoules at room temperature (about 23° C.).These precursors are vaporized individually in vaporizers at about 110°C. to about 130° C. and individually mixed with an inert carrier gas.The hafnium precursor saturates the carrier gas and is provided into thechamber for about 1 second. A purge gas of nitrogen is provided into thechamber for about 1 second to remove any unbound hafnium precursor.Forming gas (5 vol % H₂ with balance in N₂) and oxygen gas each with theflow rate of about 100 sccm are supplied to the WVG system. Theoxidizing gas comes from the WVG system contains water with a flow rateof about 2.5 sccm and oxygen with a flow rate of about 98 sccm. Theoxidizing gas is provided into the chamber for 1.7 seconds. The purgegas of nitrogen is provided into the chamber for about 5 seconds toremove any unbound or non-reacted reagents, such as hafnium precursor,oxygen and/or water or by-products. A silicon precursor is provided intothe chamber for about 1 second. A purge gas of nitrogen is provided intothe chamber for about 1 second to remove any unbound precursor orcontaminant. The oxidizing gas is provided into the chamber for about1.7 seconds. The purge gas of nitrogen is provided into the chamber forabout 5 seconds. Each ALD cycle forms about 1 Å of a hafnium silicatefilm.

Example 9

A hafnium silicate film is formed during with an ALD process bysimultaneously pulsing a hafnium precursor and a silicon precursorsequentially with oxidizing gas. A substrate surface is exposed to apretreatment process to form hydroxyl groups thereon. The hafniumprecursor, TDEAH, and silicon precursor, TDMAS, are heated withinseparate precursor ampoules at room temperature (about 23° C.). Theseprecursors are vaporized individually in vaporizers at about 110° C. toabout 130° C. and individually mixed with an inert carrier gas. Thehafnium precursor and the silicon precursor are each simultaneouslypulsed into the chamber for about 1 second. A purge gas of nitrogen isprovided into the chamber for about 1 second to remove any unboundhafnium or silicon precursors. Forming gas (0.5 vol % H₂ with balance inN₂) and oxygen gas each with the flow rate of about 100 sccm aresupplied to the WVG system. The oxidizing gas from the WVG systemcontains water with a flow rate of about 0.25 sccm and oxygen with aflow rate of about 100 sccm. The oxidizing gas is provided into thechamber for about 1.7 seconds. The purge gas of nitrogen is providedinto the chamber for about 5 seconds to remove any unbound ornon-reacted reagents, such as byproducts, hafnium precursor, siliconprecursor, oxygen and/or water. Each ALD cycle forms about 1 Å of ahafnium silicate film.

Example 10

A hafnium oxide film is formed during an ALD process by sequentiallypulsing a hafnium precursor with an oxidizing gas produced by a WVGsystem. A substrate surface is exposed to a pretreatment process to formhydroxyl groups thereon. The hafnium precursor, TDEAH, is heated withina precursor ampoule at a temperature of about 23° C. A nitrogen carriergas is directed into the precursor ampoule containing the hafniumprecursor with a flow rate of about 400 sccm. The hafnium precursorsaturates the carrier gas and is provided into the chamber for about 2seconds. A purge gas of nitrogen is provided into the chamber for about1.5 seconds to remove any unbound hafnium precursor. Hydrogen gas andoxygen gas with the flow rate of about 100 sccm and about 120 sccmrespectively, are supplied to the WVG system. The oxidizing gas comingfrom the WVG system contains water with a flow rate of about 100 sccmand oxygen with a flow rate of about 70 sccm. The oxidizing gas isprovided into the chamber for about 1.7 seconds. The purge gas ofnitrogen is provided into the chamber for about 1.5 seconds to removeany unbound or non-reacted reagents, such as byproducts, hafniumprecursor, oxygen and/or water. Each ALD cycle forms about 1.1 Å of ahafnium oxide film.

Materials are deposited by dosing chemicals separately in an alternatingfashion to achieve the desired film composition or characteristics withselected half reactions. The above half reactions, however, do notdictate the exact bonding connectivity or the stoichiometry of theresulting film. While most of the product compositional stoichiometry isthermodynamically controlled during a chemical reaction, the productcompositional stoichiometry may also be kinetically controlled to obtainthe desired composition. Thus, the dosing sequence may be modified toeffect the overall composition and qualities of the film.

While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the invention, otherand further embodiments of the invention may be devised withoutdeparting from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof isdetermined by the claims that follow.

1. An apparatus for processing substrates, comprising: a substratesupport comprising a substrate receiving surface and positioned within aprocess chamber; a chamber lid comprising: an expanding channel formedwithin a thermally insulating material at a central portion of thechamber lid; and a tapered bottom surface extending from the expandingchannel to a peripheral portion of the chamber lid, wherein the taperedbottom surface is shaped and sized to substantially cover the substratereceiving surface; a first conduit coupled to a first gas inlet withinthe expanding channel; and a second conduit coupled to a second gasinlet within the expanding channel, wherein the first conduit and thesecond conduit are positioned to provide a gas flow in a circulardirection through the expanding channel.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the expanding channel is formed within the chamber lid or with afunnel liner attached thereon.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein thethermally insulating material comprises a material selected from thegroup consisting of fused quartz, ceramic, sapphire, pyrolytic boronnitrite, derivatives thereof, and combinations thereof.
 4. The apparatusof claim 3, wherein the thermally insulating material comprises apolished surface finish of at least about 0.051 μm.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 3, wherein the chamber further comprises at least one thermallyinsulating liner selected from the group consisting of an upper processliner, a lower process liner, a slip valve liner, a retaining ring, andcombinations thereof.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein a funnelliner is attached to the chamber lid and thermally expands to becomealigned and centered with the substrate during a thermal process.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 3, wherein a first valve is coupled to the firstconduit and a second valve is coupled to the second conduit.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 7, wherein a first gas source is in fluidcommunication with the first valve and a second gas source is in fluidcommunication with the second valve.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8,wherein the first and second valves enable an atomic layer depositionprocess with a pulse time of about 2seconds or less.
 10. The apparatusof claim 8, wherein the first conduit and the second conduit arepositioned to direct the gas flow at an inner surface of the expandingchannel.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the gas flow has thecircular direction comprising a geometry selected from the groupconsisting of vortex, helix, spiral, and derivatives thereof.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 8, wherein a reaction zone containing a volume ofabout 3,000 cm³ or less is defined between the chamber lid and thesubstrate receiving surface.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein thevolume of the reaction zone is adjustable by laterally positioning thesubstrate support.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein a plasmaapparatus is in fluid communication with the reaction zone.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein a water vapor generator comprising acatalyst is coupled to the first conduit.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15,wherein an oxygen source and a hydrogen source are coupled to the watervapor generator.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the catalystcomprises an element selected from the group consisting of palladium,platinum, nickel, iron, chromium, ruthenium, rhodium, alloys thereof,and combinations thereof.
 18. An apparatus for processing substrates,comprising: a substrate support comprising a substrate receiving surfaceand positioned within a process chamber; a chamber lid comprising: anexpanding channel formed within a thermally insulating material at acentral portion of the chamber lid; and a tapered bottom surfaceextending from the expanding channel to a peripheral portion of thechamber lid, wherein the tapered bottom surface is shaped and sized tosubstantially cover the substrate receiving surface; a conduit coupledto a gas inlet within the expanding channel; an ALD valve assemblycoupled to the conduit; and a water vapor generator coupled to the ALDvalve assembly, wherein the water vapor generator comprises a catalystand is in fluid communication with the expanding channel.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 18, wherein the thermally insulating materialcomprises a material selected from the group consisting of fused quartz,ceramic, sapphire, pyrolytic boron nitrite, derivatives thereof, andcombinations thereof.